Glasgow Caledonian Reds coach Richie Dixon's decision to rest three key players for tomorrow's visit to Newport has offered a further opportunity to other members of his squad to push their cases for inclusion in Scotland's New Zealand tour party.
Captain Andy Nicol and fellow internationalists Glenn Metcalfe and Gordon Simpson are missing the trip, along with the man at the centre of the eligibility row, Dave Hilton, who picked up a calf injury during Sunday's narrow victory over struggling Dunvant.
Following that lacklustre performance, Dixon is well aware that his men will have to move up through the gears if they are to have any chance against Newport, but he stressed the need to protect his players.
''Gordon has had a foot problem over the past couple of weeks, and although he probably could have played, the last thing we want is to put unnecessary pressure on an injury at this stage,'' he said.
''Glenn is not 100 per cent either after turning an ankle against Dunvant, and while those injuries tend to heal up pretty quickly, more serious damage could be done if he did it again, so we may not even play him against Neath next week.
''Like Gordon, Andy will definitely play at Neath in our last Celtic League match, though. I have discussed things with him and just feel that, after a very intense season, he will benefit from an extended rest at this stage, since I am sure he will also be playing against the Barbarians at the end of the month before Scotland go on tour.
''We certainly think the side we are sending to Newport can win the game, though.''
The Reds will be led by Rowen Shepherd as he makes a timely return to the position where he has played most of his Test rugby, while it is also an opportune moment for Graeme Beveridge, who was on the bench for Scotland in Wales this season, to start a second successive match.
In Simpson's continued absence, meanwhile, all three back-row members - Gareth Flockhart, Donnie Macfadyen and Jon Petrie - must have the added incentive of believing they could make the tour.
Glasgow Caledonian Reds team to face Newport - R Shepherd captain; J Craig, J Stuart, I Jardine, A Bulloch; T Hayes, G Beveridge; A Watt, G Bulloch, G McIlwham, J White, S Campbell, G Flockhart, D Macfadyen, J Petrie. Replacements - B Irving, F Stott, R Reid, M Waite, D Burns, D Herrington, G Scott.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article