The recipe for Scottish Six Nations success would seem straightforward on the back of the season so far: Edinburgh’s forwards, Glasgow Warriors’ midfield and a bit of a mix in the back three.
Setting aside any complication caused by determination to adhere to a particular philosophy in terms of playing style, there is a complicating factor, however.
The difficulty lies at loosehead prop where not only have Edinburgh quickly developed a reliance on the combative Pierre Schoeman, but his fellow South African Oli Kebble is looking an ever better fit in the Glasgow Warriors no.1 jersey.
Since the only loosehead props in the Scotland camp at Oriam this week were home-based, it follows that there will be questions to answer over the match fitness of those selected for the Six Nations Championship opener against Italy next week and in particular that of the player selected to start.
As things stand Alan Dell looks odds on favourite to start, offering the option of going with an all Edinburgh front five, which would look particularly likely if Jonny Gray does not recover fully from his shoulder injury, but should perhaps be the preferred option even if he is fully fit, given the way that Edinburgh pack has been performing.
That working relationship with his club colleagues apart, Dell has made five starts and 13 appearances in total this season for a total of 404 minutes, little more than five full matches, which is a pretty light work-load by normal standards, however three of those starts have been in Champions Cup in which he has been involved in all six of Edinburgh’s matches that have been played at high intensity.
If, then, the two Glasgow men in the frame are battling for a place on the bench, Alex Allan would appear to have the edge since, for all that he has made just a single start this season, there have been a further 10 off the bench, four of those in the Champions Cup, including Glasgow’s last two matches.
While his fall from grace has not been as spectacular as that of Darryl Marfo, who started all three Tests for Scotland in the autumn of 2017, yet has played a total of 21 minutes for Edinburgh this season, Jamie Bhatti went into camp this week eager to prove that he could be as useful to the management as they previously considered him.
Introduced to the national squad at the same time as Marfo, Bhatti was also an ever present in that autumn Test series and continued to be so through the Six Nations and on last summer’s tour of the Americas.
Clearly his capacity to make an impact off the bench was a factor, since only one of the 11 Test appearances he has made has been as a starter – that in an embarrassing defeat against the USA - and the former slaughterhouse man’s willingness to please was exemplified this week when, before it had been decided whether he would be among those released to play this weekend.
“I’ll play anywhere,” he said, eagerly. “If I’m involved here I’ll give my all and if I am back at Glasgow I will play as well as I can for them. It just depends what the coaches are thinking. It all depends on selection.”
That was entirely in keeping with his gratitude for the opportunity to be involved again.
“I wasn’t expecting it, having not had a good run of games up until the campaign. I got the phone call and I was like, ‘Aw, that’s brilliant’. It makes your night and it makes your day. It puts a spring in your step the next day after getting the call,” he said.
However, in a strange way it is something of a clean slate for the trio, with the number one No.1s at their respective teams taken out of the equation, as Bhatti acknowledged.
“We’re all – me, Alex and Alan - in kind of the same boat,” he said. “We’ve been sitting on the bench, not playing as much. I just want to train as well as I can here and show the coaches that I’m ready to go.”
Since Stuart McInally is the only one of the four hookers in the squad with any sort of Test experience much looks set to depend on the management getting the balance right in terms of who starts on his left and who is called upon to consolidate situations or make an impact. Scotland’s strength in depth is generally considered to have improved across the board, but there is a challenge to be met in the front-row.
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