INTERNATIONAL week again, and the Scotland squad to face the Japanese on Saturday has been named. I cannot really fault Scottie for the Match-Day squad he has chosen, it's not as if we are so well-off for players that he could afford to pick a truly experimental team. As was shown in the summer, when the Japanese beat Wales, facing them even a few short of your best XV is asking for bother.
With Hoggie injured, Sean Maitland was a virtual shoo-in for the 15 jersey; while Tim Visser's injury was, from Scotland's point of view, badly-timed. I bow to nobody as an admirer of Mark Bennett, the best thing to have come out of Cumnock since Ayr Road linked-up with the new by-pass, but, sadly for him, his form shaded at the wrong time and he will be none the worse for a watching brief over the Autumn Tests.
I do have my concerns around the reserve props. Since Messrs Dickinson and Cross are not apparently trusted sufficiently by Alan Solomons to start for Edinburgh - I fail to see how they can be good enough to be the national team's back-up pairing. I reckon Messrs Welsh, Low and Reid from Glasgow are all better props than the Edinburgh pair.
The selection of big Al Kellock in the boiler-house has provoked some comment. I am a huge Kellock fan; he might not have Jim Hamilton's grunt in the tight scrums, but, I feel he more than makes up for this with his line-out expertise, not least as an opposition code breaker, and, he will never concede the silly penalties which JH does.
That said, putting the Gray brothers in harness in this one might have helped boost the crowd.
Finally, I am becoming more of a Jackson fan this season. In many ways he's like his club coach, Toony. Sure, he will leave you shaking your head at some rush of shite to the brain, then, from nowhere, he will conjour-up a moment of magic - and how often has Scotland had such a man in the number 10 shirt?
Jackson tests the first line of defence, which should leave room for his centres to work in, let's hope so.
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