WITH one new cap among the six changes from the side who finished the Six Nations, Andy Robinson has made it clear that the summer tour is not going see an end to the all-out attack policy that brought plenty of spectacle but no results in the spring tournament.
Despite a forecast of heavy rain in New South Wales, Robinson is going to go for even more adventure as Scotland start their tour against Australia on Tuesday.
Matt Scott is being handed his first start at inside centre in a back line very much centred on the unit that helped cement Edinburgh's place in the Heineken Cup semi-finals with an equally open style of play.
The changes are the usual mix of voluntary and involuntary – three of each. Ryan Grant, Matt Scott and Euan Murray have all won the selection vote; David Denton's injury, Jim Hamilton's ban, and the ongoing dispute with Castres and the International Rugby Board over Max Evans and his availability depriving him of the other three players.
On that final issue, Robinson was doing his best to be diplomatic, but it is clear that he is deeply unhappy that the club have been allowed to keep the player until Monday, the day before the Test match is being played 12,000 miles away from the south of France where Evans is based.
"I am disappointed that Max is not here. There needs to be clarification of the rules from the International Rugby Board for us to fully recognise that this is a full Test," he said. "Unfortunately we were not able to bring him out when we wanted to."
Castres played Toulouse last night in the Top 14 semi-finals – with Evans selected at centre – and the club have insisted that the international window does not start until tomorrow so they don't have to release Evans until then.
Scotland believe the regulations cover any game played this week and he should have been released five days before the match. The rules are ambiguous but so far the IRB have snubbed Scotland and sided with the club.
In his place Joe Ansbro, who has been playing most of his recent rugby at inside centre, is having to fill the wing place, one of two changes behind the scrum – the other being the inclusion of Edinburgh centre Scott in place of Graeme Morrison, dropped from the tour squad.
"It is a case of giving a young player an opportunity to perform as he was performing for Edinburgh," Robinson said. "His passing skills at centre and his experience of playing at 10 will give us some extra width, and with the firepower of Sean Lamont on the wing, this means we can utilise him a bit wider.
"I am pleased for somebody like Matt Scott, who had a taste in the Six Nations and did well in the Heineken Cup. We are looking for him on this tour to really make a mark. For him, this is a real chance. It is a good run of games, and he is responding well in training. It is about being able to handle Test rugby and for a back there is no greater test than being able to play against the Australians both in attack and defence."
For Scott himself, it was just a relief to get more than 20 minutes notice – all he got on his debut – that he was going to play and that he is getting a shot at Test level in the position he has been playing all season. His first cap saw him come on as a replacement wing.
Robinson was, however, unstinting in his praise for the Australians – who are expected to field something close to a full-strength line-up – and knows that for all the flair that he has brought into the back line, the key to the game is in the grunt and grapple of the front five allied with the destructive powers of the back row.
There he has been forced to shuffle. Grant and Murray prop down on either side of Ross Ford, the tour captain, replacing Allan Jacobsen and Geoff Cross who did the job in February and March. Al Kellock regains his place in the second row after Hamilton's disgrace and Al Strokosch returns to the back row with John Barclay shifting to No 8.
That is clearly a move designed to stifle the dangerous Australians breakaways, where David Pocock is expected to play. Robinson has paid him and Will Genia, the scrum-half, the highest possible tribute by, in effect, double marking them.
"We have to slow down the Australian ball and win it from them," was how Robinson justified the inclusion of two specialist opensides.
"We have to put Genia under severe pressure, because if he is given free rein, he is the best in the world. He is in fine form. You see some of the tries he has scored; he has scored from 50 metres out.
"We recognise what a threat he will be. Our back row have to have a platform, and they have to disrupt Australian ball.
"We have spent a lot of time watching the Australians, their understanding of defence and their ability to stop teams playing is very good, based on the rugby league background they have.
"The angles and the lines they run are exceptional. It is going to be a tough game."
Scotland: S Hogg (Glasgow); J Ansbro (Edinburgh), N De Luca (Edinburgh), M Scott (Edinburgh), S Lamont (Scarlets); G Laidlaw (Edinburgh), M Blair (Edinburgh), R Grant (Glasgow), R Ford (C) (Glasgow), E Murray (Newcastle), A Kellock (Glasgow), R Gray (Glasgow), A Strokosch (Gloucester), R Rennie (Edinburgh), J Barclay (Glasgow). Replacements: S Lawson (Gloucester), J Welsh (Glasgow), T Ryder (Glasgow), R Vernon, C Cusiter (Glasgow), D Weir (Glasgow), T Brown (Edinburgh).
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