Young Glasgow fly-half Ruaridh Jackson has again been preferred to the experienced Dan Parks as Scotland seek to launch a running game against England at Twickenham on Sunday.
Scotland coach Andy Robinson has made four changes in personnel and one positional change for this weekend’s Calcutta Cup match, the most controversial of which is his decision to stick by the inexperienced Jackson over the veteran Parks.
Jackson started against Ireland, but found it difficult to make much headway. When Scotland were reduced to 14 men, he launched a series of high kicks which handed the ball back to the Irish and put Scotland under pressure.
Jackson was eventually replaced by Parks for the final quarter, a change which was generally felt to have given Scotland a lift – even though they still failed to score a try or win the game.
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But Robinson has decided that Jackson, with his speed off the mark and his tendency to stand closer to the gain-line and pose a threat from the ten channel, has the ability to spark the sort of fast running game he wants to develop. Parks will start on the bench, as he did against Ireland. The other changes see Simon Danielli return to the wing in place of Nikki Walker, who is dropped from the squad. Joe Ansbro returns after injury to the outside centre berth and Rory Lawson comes back at scrum half in place of Mike Blair, who drops to the bench. In the forwards, Nathan Hines is re-introduced in the blindside flanker berth he occupied against France in the first game of the Six Nations championship, with Kelly Brown moving to no.8 from the side of the scrum. It will be Danielli’s first start of the championship. Ansbro returns after missing the Ireland game through concussion in a club match, while Lawson is back in the no.9 shirt he wore against the Welsh. Edinburgh duo Mike Blair and Nick De Luca will be on the bench, where they are joined for the first time in this championship by the 28-year-old Gloucester flanker Alasdair Strokosch, who missed the EMC autumn tests with a knee injury. Wing Nikki Walker and no.8 Johnnie Beattie are omitted altogether from the team that lost 18–21 to Ireland in Scotland’s last outing. This weekend’s game marks 100 years since the first time Scotland visited Twickenham to face England. In total, they have played at “Billy Williams’ cabbage patch” on 44 occasions and have won on only four of them – the most recent being 28 years ago. “The record books show what a special achievement it would be for the Scotland team to win on Sunday," said Robinson. “That is our intention and we firmly believe that if we can deliver a sustained, intelligent and ruthless performance then we can achieve our first win of this season’s championship. “England have played some good rugby in this championship but Sunday is about our performance. Simon Danielli and Rory Lawson have both been playing well for their clubs and Joe Ansbro was unfortunate to miss the game against Ireland through injury, while Nathan Hines’ experience will be an asset for us in our back-row.” Kick-off at Twickenham on Sunday 13 March is at 3pm. The full Scotland team is: 15 Chris Paterson (Edinburgh), 14 Simon Danielli (Ulster), 13 Joe Ansbro (Northampton Saints), 12 Sean Lamont (Scarlets), 11 Max Evans and 10 Ruaridh Jackson (both Glasgow Warriors), 9 Rory Lawson (Gloucester), 1 Allan Jacobsen and 2 Ross Ford (both Edinburgh), 3 Moray Low,4 Richie Gray and 5 Alastair Kellock, captain (all Glasgow Warriors), 6 Nathan Hines (Leinster), 8 Kelly Brown (Saracens), 7 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors). Substitutes: 16 Scott Lawson (Gloucester), 17 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh), 18 Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors), 19 Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester), 20 Mike Blair (Edinburgh), 21 Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues), 22 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh). Referee: Romain Poite (France). Assistant referees: Jerome Garces (France) and Carlo Damasco (Italy). Television match official: Tony Redmond (Ireland).Donate to us: support independent, intelligent, in-depth Scottish journalism from just 3p a day
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