In one of the more bizarre team announcements of recent times, Scott Johnson, Scotland's head coach, yesterday named the eight forwards who will play against Australia at Murrayfield on Saturday, but then covered his backline options by simply listing the names of the 11 players from whose ranks he will choose his seven starters and three replacements.
Ostensibly, the provisional nature of the selection comes down to the fact that Glasgow winger Tommy Seymour is carrying a leg injury and is being given time to prove his fitness. However, the disruption suffered by the Australian back division since last weekend has made their team selection, which is due today, a matter of more conjecture than usual, and one might suspect that Johnson would rather see his opponent's hand before he turns over his own cards.
All four of the Australian threequarters who played against Ireland in Dublin last Saturday have now been ruled out of the match in Edinburgh. Wings Adam Ashley-Cooper and Nick Cummins have been banned for their part in the Wallabies' notorious drinking session nine days ago, centre Tevita Kuridrani has been suspended for five weeks for the tip tackle that earned him a straight red card in the match at the Aviva Stadium, while Matt Toomua has now been ruled out after damaging a hamstring in training.
However, Johnson scoffed at a suggestion that the Australians are now in disarray as a result of their setbacks. "They are starting to assemble a really good side," he said. "I've seen some of these players as young men and said this was a bumper crop of Aussies coming through and when they click, they can punish anyone. They're not in disarray because whoever plays there will be a skilful rugby player. That is cast in stone."
While Johnson clearly has to come up with a permutation based on whether Seymour is injured or not, his refusal to confirm the choice of a single player behind the scrum is, on the face of it, something of an extreme reaction to just one of them carrying a leg knock. Would Seymour's health dictate the choice of half-backs? Does it really have a bearing on who plays at full-back? The keep-em-guessing explanation looks rather more credible.
"It gets all muddled," said Johnson, one of his more decisive statements. "I'll worry about it when I can confirm the whole back line and say 'that's it'. I'm not ready to do it because I want to give the kid [Seymour] a chance. I'm also trying to be fair to the pro teams as well. There are boys we're looking to bring back, but I'm trying to see it out with what we've got on the shop floor now."
In the pack, the big talking point has to be the absence of lock Richie Gray, Scotland's only current Test Lion. Gray appears to be paying the price of a calamitous period early in the game against South Africa last weekend, when Scotland failed to retain possession at five of their first six lineouts. Johnson went out of his way to praise hooker Ross Ford, the player who would normally attract most criticism for such a woeful set-piece return.
Moray Low, who made a solid return to the starting line-up against the Springboks, is rewarded with a place against Australia, despite the availability of Euan Murray. Johnson also paid tribute to Low's performance, but added that Murray will be absent from Scotland's opening Six Nations game, against Ireland, as it takes place on a Sunday, and that continuity at tighthead was an issue.
In the back row, Kelly Brown has been recalled on the openside flank - and as captain - with Johnnie Beattie at blindside. At least, that is what the numbers on their backs will suggest, but there is a strong indication that they will simply play left and right. The lack of a specialist openside has to be a concern against a side as good in that area as the Australians, an issue even Johnson acknowledged.
"We'd like better competition in the seven area," said the coach. "I'm not hiding from that. We're trying to find kids that are real quality on the ball and if we can't get that then we have to find guys who can do other things."
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