THERE have been more than a few Scotland sides over the years which have been well short of real international stature. In fact, the most common mix in the national team over the decades has probably been a handful of genuinely first-rate rugby players, a larger number of solid players in the supporting cast, and one or two bringing up the rear who could consider themselves very fortunate to have been chosen to represent their country.
It is an indication of the real potential of the present squad that it contains no-one who would fit into the latter category. Instead, from loosehead prop to full-back, the team available to Vern Cotter is one of increasing quality, in which every man is worthy of his place.
The predictability of the line-up is testament to that. Where some Scotland coaches have had to make do with an unsettled side in which some players are never sure of their best position, Cotter has built a balanced team in which everyone knows his role.
The starting 15 to play England at Murrayfield on Saturday will be announced tomorrow, but, presuming there are no late injury scares, there is only real doubt about a couple of areas: centre and the back row. Even then, the uncertainty in midfield is largely due to Mark Bennett’s touch-and-go recovery from the shoulder damage that has prevented him from playing for Glasgow since the second weekend of last month.
The front row will comprise the Edinburgh trio of Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford and WP Nel. The locks will be Richie and Jonny Gray.
Greig Laidlaw will be scrum-half and captain, and Finn Russell should slot in alongside him at stand-off - unless, that is, the weather turns so wet that Cotter opts for Duncan Weir’s more measured kicking game. Stuart Hogg will be at full-back, Sean Maitland is fit to play on one wing, and Tommy Seymour should be on the other. Class competitors all.
Bennett is the team’s most dangerous back; the one with the greatest facility for slicing through the opposition after spotting the slightest opening. If he were completely match fit there would be no question about his inclusion.
The prognosis earlier this week was good, but there is still a difficult call to make as to whether the Glasgow back should start or come off the bench. There is always an argument that, to be selected in a squad, any player should be able to start, because there are no guarantees as to how long he might be able to stay on the bench. Say Bennett is among the substitutes because of a decision that he is not yet fit enough to last a full game, but one of the starting centres gets injured in the opening minutes.
Would he be able to play around 70 minutes, or would Cotter have to replace him later in the second half? It’s a tough call.
The other factor to bear in mind, however, is the probable attritional nature of the game against England. Even if Bennett is deemed to be able to play 80 minutes, it could be thought better to start with Duncan Taylor and Matt Scott together at centre and ask them to play their part in bludgeoning England to a standstill. All being well, Bennett could then come on for the final 20 minutes and go in search of space.
When it comes to the back row, the key question is how much Cotter thought he got out of playing Blair Cowan and John Hardie together from the start in the World Cup quarter-final against Australia. When that selection was announced it seemed it was designed as a direct counter to the Wallabies’ habit of playing two specialist openside flankers in Michael Hooper and David Pocock.
But when Michael Cheika announced his team, it turned out that Pocock was absent because of injury. And since then Cotter has insisted on several occasions that Cowan’s best position is blindside, so perhaps, rather than being a one-off combination for a special occasion, Cowan in the No 6 jersey and Hardie at No 7 will become a staple part of Scotland’s starting line-up.
Given the way in which the coach has talked of the spine of his team remaining in place from the World Cup, David Denton looks likely to continue at No 8. The complicating factor there, however, is the recall to the squad of John Barclay, who Cotter is confident can cover any of the three back-row berths. Will that versatility consign the Scarlets forward to a place on the bench, or could he get the nod ahead of Denton?
Whatever choices Cotter makes in the end, he has something approaching an embarrassment of riches from which to select. That is, of course, no guarantee that Scotland will either win on Saturday or prosper in this season’s RBS SIx Nations Championship, because their improvement cannot be taken in isolation, and other teams are looking ahead to the tournament with equally justified optimism.
But the quality is there, all right, and the prospect of seeing Scotland try to build on their World Cup campaign is an exciting one. The best part of four months have passed since the team were last in action. It is hard to remember a time when their return was more eagerly awaited.
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