Status quo on one side of Edinburgh; status anxiety on the other. At Murrayfield, Scott Johnson, the Scotland coach, yesterday handed the play-it-again instructions to his unchanged three-quarter line ahead of tomorrow's match with Australia.

At the Australia team hotel on the Royal Mile, meanwhile, his counterpart, Ewen McKenzie, challenged his all-new strike force to seize their opportunities and make themselves first-choice players.

Actually, "meanwhile" isn't quite the word. Whether by happy accident or crafty design, Johnson enjoyed the luxury of confirming his line-up after McKenzie had named his. Originally, the plan was that Scotland would announce first, but Johnson managed to reverse that order when he stated on Wednesday that Tommy Seymour would have to undergo a fitness test and that the Scots' backs would not be named until yesterday.

Whether the Australian selection of centres Mike Harris and Christian Leali'ifano and wings Joe Tomane and Chris Feauai-Sautia had a bearing on Johnson's thinking will remain a mystery. All four have been on the Test scene for a while, but their combined collection of 27 caps means that they lag some way behind their Scottish counterparts, who can boast a total of 130, in terms of international experience.

Australia's quartet of newcomers owe their places to the improbable sequence of misfortunes and misdemeanours which have decimated the Wallaby three-quarter line over the past few days. Their troubles began when wings Adam Ashley-Cooper and Nick Cummins were banned for taking part in an infamous late-night drinking session in Dublin, deepened when centre Tevita Kuridrani was suspended for five weeks for a tip tackle against Ireland and finally compounded when Matt Toomua was ruled out after injuring his hamstring in training.

However, McKenzie put a positive spin on the enforced changes. "Everyone in the group has played for their country before, so we're not going to uncapped players," said the coach. "There are one or two there who maybe haven't played so much, but they have been selected because we think they are good enough. I'm interested to see how these guys make the most of their opportunities.

"It is going to be a tough environment. Scotland won't let up, they are not that kind of side. They have a good record against us in recent times, so this will be a really good contest for us and the chance to see where these guys are at."

Unsurprisingly, McKenzie has chosen the same pack that impressed in the course of their comfortable win against Ireland. Their scrum, so long an object of derision in Test rugby, also held up well. "In every Test match you've got to get the ball," said McKenzie. "It's pretty essential. We have been battling better than people probably think and there has been some discussion about the scrums, but on this trip we have been getting good quality ball for our backs."

While Johnson has stuck with a wing pairing of Seymour and Sean Lamont, with Duncan Taylor and Nick De Luca retaining the centre berths, he has made a change at fly-half, where Duncan Weir takes over from his Glasgow Warriors clubmate Ruaridh Jackson. Seymour's clean bill of health also means that there is no place for Mark Bennett in the matchday 23, but the exciting young Glasgow back will remain with the Scotland party for the time being.

Tim Swinson, man of the match against Japan a fortnight ago, has dropped out of the side after aggravating a chest injury in training. His place in the second row goes to Edinburgh lock Grant Gilchrist, with Jonny Gray promoted to the bench as cover. "From what I have seen and what I have heard Grant has had a really strong start to the season. It's exciting for him," said Kelly Brown, the Scotland captain.

Brown was rested for last weekend's 28-0 defeat by the Springboks, but he has been part of the post-mortem process, especially around the misfiring lineout, and has strong opinions as a result. "It's important the set-piece goes well because we put ourselves under pressure in that area last Sunday," said the flanker. "I don't think there were harsh words spoken this week, more honest words. Sometimes it's things individuals don't want to hear but you've got to learn from your mistakes."