Andy Robinson taking a calculated risk with Laidlaw

Yet the only criticism of the now retired stand-off was implicit as Andy Robinson, Scotland's head coach, admitted to having told him that he was no longer required just two days after trusting him to give Scotland a tactical lead at the start of the RBS 6 Nations Championship.

Robinson was at pains to explain how grateful he was to the Cardiff Blues playmaker for having helped out at a difficult time by making himself available for the first two matches of the championship because Ruaridh Jackson, the World Cup stand-off, had been injured, while Laidlaw and Duncan Weir in their different ways lacked experience.

He also, quite rightly, noted that for all that it was nowhere close to one of his better games, Parks had done the job he had been asked to sufficiently well that Scotland played the game in the right parts of the pitch to set up more than enough chances to win the game.

However, the time has now come to take the calculated risk of placing the team's immediate future in the control of first Laidlaw and then, potentially Weir, who has been called on to the replacements bench along with Glasgow colleagues Stuart Hogg, who has replaced the 20-year-old stand-off as the club's latest teenage sensation and Ed Kalman, the prop who has discovered the form of his life.

That Graeme Morrison, apart from Parks the only other member of Saturday's match 22 to be left out when he was the only one not to get on to the pitch, could be seized upon as further evidence that this management is having real problems when it comes to selection.

However, Hogg's inclusion on the bench offers a wider range of options since Morrison is an out-and-out specialist inside-centre.

Whether the mix is right this time around remains to be seen, but that one change to the back line will bring a very different approach to the playmaking department because of the nature of the man brought in.

It was surprising that Laidlaw has been introduced without Mike Blair, his Edinburgh half-back partner, since the pair have come up with what is an almost French style way of interchanging positions that is an innovation in Scottish rugby.

Both Robinson, who said he has told Chris Cusiter that he is his first-choice scrum-half and Laidlaw, expressed full confidence that the Glasgow man would work well with the Edinburgh captain as they must, but it does mean another adjustment for Laidlaw to make in what is his first senior season as a regular starter at stand-off.

"It might be slightly different," Laidlaw admitted. "I don't know if Cus will be getting in at first receiver as much as Mike with the way me and Mike tend to play, but I'm delighted to be playing with Chris. He's got a great pass on him and, hopefully, I'll be able to get nice and wide off him and get into some space."

What should make a significant difference, though, is that Laidlaw, like his uncle Roy before him, one of Scotland's greatest scrum-halves, relishes nothing more than battling among the bigger men to keep things moving quickly. That is a very different approach to Parks, who is much more a traditional stand-off who waits for the ball to be delivered to him.

"It doesn't really bother me . . . if the ball's there to play, I'll just get in and move it," said Laidlaw.

"That's the kind of rugby Scotland want to be playing, not always waiting for a scrum-half, when you just need somebody to pass the ball, get it into space and getting these dangerous runners into space and causing problems." As to whether that can unlock defences, he added: "I certainly hope so. That's part of my game, as well. I can get in there and move the ball quickly. When we're in games, I like getting in there and getting stuck in. That's kind of my style, it's the way I've been brought up and I think we'll need that come the Millennium Stadium on Sunday afternoon. We'll need every single person getting in there and putting their heads into places that sometimes you don't want to put it."

Laidlaw also called for Scotland to show greater composure, however, and no-one has given a better example of that this season than he has with his cool-headed goal-kicking and leadership having played such a big part in Edinburgh's revival.

He is, though, coming into the starting line-up at a time when pressure is growing on the team and the management.

Cracks are beginning to show with Robinson feeling the need to state that there is no disharmony in the camp after lock forward Jim Hamilton said that chopping and changing of the team had unsettled players and the head coach's ability as a selector continues to be questioned.

"I'm very happy with my selection last week," he said, having largely confirmed that by making fewer changes than for any previous match in the seven played this season.

The role of Gregor Townsend, the team's attack coach, is also under considerable scrutiny with four matches now having gone by since they last crossed the opposition try line.

"I'm not changing the coaching team. We're working together," said Robinson.

As for the contrast between Scotland's inability to score tries three years after Townsend's appointment and the way both Edinburgh and Scotland A have been rattling them in since Michael Bradley brought his influence to bear on those sides, Robinson said: "That's not for me to comment on."