Scotland unchanged to face Australia - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Scotland unchanged to face Australia

18/11/2009 12:58:59 AM Comments (0)

Scotland coach Andy Robinson named an unchanged side Tuesday to face Australia in this weekend's international at Murrayfield.

The former England boss has decided not to make any alterations to his starting XV or bench following last Saturday's 23-10 win over Fiji - Robinson's first game in charge of Scotland.

His decision means Chris Cusiter retains both the captaincy and the No.9 shirt ahead of scrum-half rival and fellow "co-captain" Mike Blair.

Both Blair, who remains on the bench, and No.8 Johnnie Beattie missed training Monday with ankle and groin injuries but the pair should be fit for Saturday's match against the Wallabies.

"We are giving the players the opportunity to perform against the Wallabies, who are a top quality international side - the sort that everyone wants to test themselves against," said Robinson.

"Competition for places is intense and we'll be watching the Scotland A game against Tonga in Gala on Friday night very closely.

"But we are saying to the players for Saturday step up this weekend and show improvement," the ex-England flanker added.

Australia come into this match on the back of a 20-20 draw with Six Nations champions Ireland in Dublin - a result that scuppered their hopes of emulating the 1984 Wallabies by completing a grand slam of wins over the Home Nations, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, on the one tour.

Wallaby coach Robbie Deans is due to name his team on Thursday.

Australia have not lost to Scotland since 1982 - a run of 16 straight wins.

Scotland team to play Australia in a one-off international at Murrayfield on Saturday:

Rory Lamont; Sean Lamont, Alex Grove, Graeme Morrison, Simon Danielli; Phil Godman, Chris Cusiter (capt); Johnnie Beattie, John Barclay, Alastair Strokosch; Alastair Kellock, Nathan Hines; Moray Low, Ross Ford, Allan Jacobsen. Res: Dougie Hall, Kyle Traynor, Jason White, Richie Vernon, Mike Blair, Chris Paterson, Nick de Luca

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news