THE Scotland squad have had to show some adaptability at their Pyrenees training camp over the past few days as they have been put through their paces by French special forces, and it is that very quality which Greig Tonks hopes will get him selected for Vern Cotter's final Rugby World Cup group of 31.

The Edinburgh player can slot in at full-back, stand-off or centre, and although his priority is to establish himself as a No.10, he knows that, when it comes to the World Cup, versatility could be key.

"The way it stands at the moment, I think they want me to be able to cover both fly-half and full-back," he said. "I'm quite comfortable doing that. Going forward, I want to be playing fly-half, but I have played a lot of rugby at full-back so I can play there if needs be.

"I'm happy to be able to cover both. It helps to be reasonably versatile. Given that they can only take 31 players, having a bit of flexibility hopefully might help.

"[The World Cup] is huge. It's the pinnacle of everyone's career. I would love to be involved, and I'll do the best I can for the next eight or nine weeks and we'll see what happens from there.

"It's out of your hands. All you can do is train and prepare the best you can. If you're lucky enough to make it, then brilliant; if you're not, I suppose it will be very disappointing but that's part of it. You can only do your best and if the coaches are happy or unhappy, then that's just the way it goes."

With 46 players currently in the training squad, there will be a lot of serious competition over the next couple of months, which is exactly what Cotter wants. At the same time, however, the head coach expects the squad to demonstrate the ability to work as part of a team, and that has been the underlying theme of much of the work these past few days at Font Romeu. The need for teamwork was best illustrated when the squad, coaches and support staff included, spent a night with the commandos a couple of thousand metres up a mountain.

"Interesting would probably be the right word," Tonks replied cautiously when asked to describe that experience. "It was good fun and the guys enjoyed it, but it was hard work. We had a two-hour hike up one of the hills and then set up camp and stayed the night there. It was a tough night and not much sleep was had, but it was good fun. It was certainly a bit different.

"A few of the boys built a little hut, but then they realised it was still freezing. Luckily, we got dinner given to us, so we were pampered in that respect. We had a big barbecue. We had to cook it, but that was fun.

"Unless the coaches snuck off, I think they were in the field with us. Everyone got stuck in and made a dinner, then found a little patch to lay down the blanket and go to sleep. It was good to see that everyone got stuck in and they didn't sneak off to a nice hotel.

"When you're put into difficult circumstances or strange surroundings with your mates you become good friends with the guys around you. It is a quick and simple way to get guys to buy into one thing together by having a bit of fun and a laugh. The boys will get a few stories from it."

Tonks started at full-back on his Scotland debut, against Samoa two summers ago, but his three subsequent caps have all come as a substitute. That, he knows, is the double-edged sort of versatility: your ability to provide cover can get you into a matchday squad, but often condemns you to waiting on the bench until later in the game.

"Obviously [starting] is the goal - that's what I want to do," the 26-year-old added when asked about the frustrations inherent in such a situation. "But I know there's a lot of competition, so I'm just going to try to train and play the best I can, learn and develop as a player and see what the coaches want from me. I want to try to make the most of the opportunity I've got and try to get a start."