THERE was a time, and not too long ago either, when Scotland’s selectors faced an unenviable task. When, like some chef left with too little pastry to cover a pie, their resources were stretched to breaking point. Cover up one weak point, and all they did was allow an all-too-pokeable hole to appear elsewhere.
Not any more. When Vern Cotter and his assistant coaches sat down to choose the team to play Ireland on Saturday, they did so from a position of strength. There are, as ever, injuries they would far rather do without, but even allowing for that caveat, they have a very able squad from which to choose - one in which, in stark contrast to just a few years ago, there are few glaring deficiencies.
That is not to say that every player who will be in the matchday squad of 23 announced tomorrow is flawless: far from it. But none will be makeweights; none will be there merely because there was no-one else; none will be an obvious weak link to be targeted by ruthless opponents.
Competition for places may be greatest in the back row and the centres, but there is a depth throughout the squad now that testifies to just how well Cotter has nurtured the nation’s leading players since he took up his post three years ago. And, notwithstanding that competition, the head coach is surely very close to knowing his first-choice 15 - another sign of the progress made since the summer of 2014.
The pool of talent available to the head coach is shallowest at stand-off, but as things stand the biggest concern is the neck condition that has deprived the team of WP Nel for the duration of the tournament - an absence that is exacerbated by the loss of Alasdair Dickinson for at least the first two games. Without his most experienced props, Cotter is set to continue the policy he employed in the Autumn Tests: start Zander Fagerson at tighthead in place of Nel, and Allan Dell at loosehead instead of Dickinson, with Ross Ford at hooker to offset the props’ lack of experience.
In a straight fight for the No 2 jersey, Glasgow’s Fraser Brown cannot be too far behind Ford, but the Edinburgh man enjoyed one of his best-ever outings in a Scotland shirt against Georgia back in November, showing up particularly well in the loose, and his 105 caps provide some much-needed ballast for the handful each which Dell and Fagerson have. Later in the tournament, Jon Welsh could step in for Fagerson and Simon Berghan should also make his debut. At loosehead, Gordon Reid will be a constant rival for Dell, and Alex Allan also awaits his chance.
In the second row, there is no seeing past the Gray brothers as the starting combination. Cotter was sufficiently impressed by Grant Gilchrist to announce him as captain for the 2014 Autumn Tests, but injury intervened and since then Richie Gray has come storming back into form.
As things stand, Gilchrist will be fortunate to get a place on the bench. Tim Swinson has been immense in recent matches for Glasgow, winning the man-of-the-match award in defeat by Munster and in the historic victory over Leicester that took the Warriors into the Champions Cup quarter-finals for the first time. He surely deserves his chance as one of the substitutes to face the Irish.
Even without John Hardie, who like Dickinson is injured but could come into contention for the later games, Scotland have an embarrassment of riches in the back row. The trio of John Barclay, Ryan Wilson and Hamish Watson offers a near-ideal combination of creativity and solidity, and if Cotter wants to opt for a more defensive formation at any stage he has Josh Strauss, Cornell du Preez and Rob Harley to call on.
Into the back division, Greig Laidlaw and Finn Russell have become automatic choices at scrum-half and stand-off. The question at No 9 is whether Ali Price or Henry Pyrgos should be on the bench as cover for the captain, while the only other 10 in the squad is Duncan Weir.
With Peter Horne on the way back from injury, any loss of Russell might encourage Cotter to start with Weir and have full-back Stuart Hogg as cover for stand-off: Hogg played in the position for Glasgow at the end of last year and also did so for the Lions back in 2013, but the question is whether his lack of game time there would lead to mistakes that might unbalance the squad. This is the area of greatest vulnerability in the team, and a problem that, while hopefully not becoming a real issue over the next seven weeks, needs to be addressed in the medium term.
The back three pick themselves at present: Hogg at 15, Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland on the wings. Alex Dunbar is inked in at 12, with Huw Jones likely to start at outside centre and Duncan Taylor being on the bench.
The resources are there all right, and the potential is massive. Let’s hope it is realised in what promises to be one of the most closely fought Six Nations for some time.
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