Dewey and Godman start for Scotland

Welsh Rugby Union | Club & Community Published 12:17 pm 7th Feb 2007 post

Their clubmate Scott Murray also returns in the second row to win his 81st cap. The trio replace Andrew Henderson, Dan Parks and Alastair Kellock respectively from the side that lost 20-42 to England at Twickenham last weekend. On the bench Nathan Hines, Simon Webster and Nikki Walker are added.

Head Coach Frank Hadden said: “The advantages of the four stand offs we have are that they are all totally different and allow the game to be played differently. We have picked a team to win this match and by changing the stand off, we will change the way in which we approach this game and play this game.

“Whereas we believed firmly that Dan Parks was the right man at Twickenham, we believe firmly that Phil Godman is the right man for this occasion.

“Rob Dewey took his try well last week and I see him in competition with Andrew Henderson for inside centre. I would like to see Marcus Di Rollo face the same sort of competition at outside centre but Graeme Morrison is injured at present and Ben MacDougall is just returning from injury.

“Scott Murray is our most experienced forward and we have opted for that quality on this occasion.”

Hadden also paid tribute to Simon Taylor who will become the 21st Scot to reach the landmark of 50 caps on Saturday: “Any time you ask Simon to improve upon something he does so. Recently I have asked him to improve the quality of his verbal communication and leadership during matches and his response has been, typically, first-class.”

Scotland: 15. Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh Rugby) ,14. Sean Lamont (Northampton Saints), 13. Marcus Di Rollo (Edinburgh Rugby), 12. Rob Dewey (Edinburgh Rugby), 11. Chris Paterson (Captain) (Edinburgh Rugby), 10. Phil Godman (Edinburgh Rugby), 9. Chris Cusiter (Border Reivers), 1. Gavin Kerr (Border Reivers), 2. Dougie Hall (Edinburgh Rugby), 3. Euan Murray (Glasgow Warriors), 4. Jim Hamilton (Leicester Tigers), 5. Scott Murray (Edinburgh Rugby), 6. Simon Taylor (Edinburgh Rugby), 7. Kelly Brown (Border Reivers), 8. David Callam (Edinburgh Rugby)

Replacements: 16. Ross Ford (Border Reivers), 17. Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Rugby), 18 Nathan Hines. (Perpignan), 19. Allister Hogg (Edinburgh Rugby), 20. Rory Lawson (Gloucester), 21. Simon Webster (Edinburgh Rugby), 22. Nikki Walker (Neath Swansea Ospreys)