WITHIN 24 hours of announcing the team to play the USA today, Scotland have been forced into changes. John Hardie, who was controversially the only openside flanker in the World Cup squad, has been ruled out after failing a concussion test.

This is where the decision to leave out the likes of Blair Cowan and John Barclay, who would have slotted in as like-for-like replacements, has its effect. While Ryan Wilson, who moves off the bench to take over Hardie’s position, is perfectly capable of playing there – he did it in the Guinness PRO12 final, after all – the absence of additional cover is a bigger issue.

The result, bizarrely, has been a shuffle among the hookers. Fraser Brown drops from the starting side to the bench as back-row cover, Ross Ford moves up from the bench to the starting side and Kevin Bryce takes Ford’s bench spot.

In the end, however, Nathan Hines, the former lock who is now an assistant coach, admitted it might help Scotland out of a problem since Hardie was otherwise going to have to play in every game. “This takes the decision on selection out of our hands,” Hines said.

Hardie was unlucky to get the bang on the head as Scotland defended their line in the final play of the game against Japan. He is not showing any signs of concussion but failed to pass one of the routine tests.

“That’s the risk you run when you only have one out-and-out seven in the squad,” said Hines. “It’s a credit to [Brown] and the squad that he’s rolling with it. Fraser’s just happy to play and do a job for the rest of the team. He may get a chance to start at hooker down the line but right now we need him to move to the bench.”