Has Andy Robinson been reading the comments sections across the internet? Nick De Luca is no longer playing at 12, and Sean Lamont is no longer on the bench, but surely no-one realistically saw this team coming.
Although I have my doubts about Sean Lamont as an inside centre – he passes the ball even less than Morrison – it seems that the “loonies” have had their say, as a new-look team was announced today. As discussed on twitter and elsewhere, Robinson has indeed gone with Jackson at 10 and Mossy at 15 to take the kicking duties which is a much more sensible decision. It may have been forced by injury, but at least it gives the boy a chance to lay down a marker ahead of the World Cup.
Elsewhere, Johnnie Beattie comes back into the pack along with Richie Gray and Moray Low (the match being on a Sunday), and Mike Blair takes the place of Rory Lawson. If the likes of Beattie, Lamont and Gray can get the team moving forward as happened in Paris then hopefully this will be a much more rewarding spectacle than two weekends ago. The team caught me a little by surprise and I think it could be a bit of a gamble, but I think I like it.
Scotland: Chris Paterson (Edinburgh); Nikki Walker (Ospreys), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Sean Lamont (Scarlets), Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors); Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Mike Blair (Edinburgh); Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Kelly Brown (Saracens), Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow Warriors), John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors).
Replacements: Scott Lawson, Geoff Cross, Nathan Hines, Richie Vernon, Rory Lawson, Dan Parks, Simon Danielli