SCOTLAND, though Grand Slam champions, have received scant recognition
in the Home Unions' XV to play against Europe at Twickenham on Sunday,
April 22, in the Skilball Trophy match to raise money for Romania's
rugby and for the general relief of the country after the December
revolution. Only four of the XV are Scots.
David Sole, unbeaten in six matches as Scotland's captain, will lead
the British Isles' team. The Scots with him will be Gavin Hastings, Tony
Stanger, and John Jeffrey.
It is small consolation that four other Scots are among the six
replacements. England, beaten in Murrayfield's Grand Slam decider last
month, provide nine for the squad -- seven in the XV and two among the
replacements. Two Welshmen and two Irish forwards make up the numbers.
Stanger, the 21-year-old Hawick wing who has scored six tries in a
like number of internationals, has been projected into select company
with his selection for the show game. Ten of the XV, including the three
other Scots, were among the Lions who won the Test series against the
Wallabies in Australia last year.
Another of the non-Lions, Will Carling, would have been in Australia
but for injury, and Peter Winterbottom was on the British Isles' tour to
New Zealand seven years ago. Only the Irish forwards, Noel Mannion and
Neil Francis, like Stanger, are completely new to British Isles
selection.
Ian McGeechan, coach of Scotland and the Lions, and his assistant on
the Australian tour, Roger Uttley, will be in charge of the Home Unions'
XV, though their titles have altered. The Scot will be manager and the
Englishman coach.
Europe's team is expected to be drawn from France, the USSR, Italy,
and Spain as well as the beneficiaries, Romania. The match will be
refereed by Fred Howard, the Englishman who sent a forward off from each
of his two international championship matches this past season.
As well as organising the match the Rugby Football Union have appealed
to clubs to arrange their own fund-raising on Romania's behalf. The Home
Unions' team is:
A G Hastings (London Scottish and Scotland); A G Stanger (Hawick and
Scotland), W D C Carling (Harlequins and England), J C Guscott (Bath and
England), R Underwood (Leicester and England);
C R Andrew (Wasps and England), R N Jones (Swansea and Wales); D M B
Sole (Edinburgh Academicals and Scotland), captain, B C Moore
(Nottingham and England), M Griffiths (Cardiff and Wales), P J Ackford
(Harlequins and England), N P T Francis (Blackrock and Ireland), J
Jeffrey (Kelso and Scotland), N P Mannion (Corinthians and Ireland), P J
Winterbottom (Harlequins and England).
Replacements -- S Hastings (Watsonians and Scotland), C M Chalmers
(Melrose and Scotland), R J Hill (Bath and England), J A Probyn (Wasps
and England), K S Milne (Heriot's FP and Scotland), D J Turnbull (Hawick
and Scotland).
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