That sound you can hear is Mr Expectation, Mr Hope and Mrs Triple-Crown running out of the door, leaving Mr Uhohherewegoagain nursing his pint in the corner.
Is it just me or is this not quite the team we had hoped for? Shorn of Hines, Murray and Strokosch that pack looks a bit cobbled together and out of position, and without Evans at 14 a little short of killer instinct in the backs. It puts an awful lot of pressure on Godman as goalkicker and playmaker. It could just be me, as it’s not that much different to the team I picked earlier in the week and a lot of the calls were close. If there is an injury to Thom that would explain things, but otherwise his exclusion seems dangerously close to folly. I hope this team can prove me wrong…
Scotland team:
Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh), Simon Webster (Edinburgh), Ben Cairns (Edinburgh), Graeme Morrison (Glasgow), Sean Lamont (Northampton), Phil Godman (Edinburgh), Mike Blair (Edinburgh), Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Geoff Cross (Edinburgh), Jason White (Sale), Jim Hamilton (Edinburgh), Ally Hogg (Edinburgh), Simon Taylor (Stade Francais), John Barclay (Glasgow)
Replacements: Dougie Hall (Glasgow Warriors), Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester), Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Gray (Northampton Saints), Chris Cusiter (Perpignan), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh), Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
Wales team: Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Leigh Halfpenny (Blues), Jamie Roberts (Blues), Gavin Henson (Ospreys), Shane Williams (Ospreys); Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Ospreys); Gethin Jenkins (Blues), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Ian Gough (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Ryan Jones (Ospreys, capt), Martyn Williams (Blues), Andy Powell (Blues).
Replacements: Tom Shanklin (Blues), James Hook (Ospreys), Dwayne Peel (Sale), John Yapp (Blues), Huw Bennett (Ospreys), Luke Charteris (Dragons), Dafydd Jones (Scarlets).
UPDATE: I’m not the only one, check out some of the comments about Evans absence on the Scotsman website… There seems to be a sense that if it doesn’t pan out, Frank Hadden is digging a rather large hole for himself on the (unused) Murrayfield back pitches…
UPDATE: Also now that the teams are announced you can make adjustments to your fantasy XVs. For example you can take out Evans and Murray. Bet they don’t let you select your half backs as Mauro Bergomasco and Andy Goode…
