John backs Scotland to cause upset in Six Nations Rugby

Scotland head coach Eamon John insists their RBS 6 Nations clash with England on Friday is a winnable game.

John’s young team have already experienced a breakthrough year, becoming the first Scottish Under 20s side not to lose to France when they managed an 8-8 draw in the opening game.

And Scotland have made just one change to the starting lineup that broke another record against Italy – becoming the first Scottish Under 20 side to win away – scrum-half Alex Black replaces Kris Hamilton.

But John insists he has picked a team to win the match and backed his players to cause an upset and avenge last season’s 20-6 defeat.

He said: “We make the selection according to the opposition. We wanted to start quickly against Italy which is why we went with Kris but from an English point of view we need a bit more physicality at the start.

“England will be smarting over their Ireland result and have had a mixed campaign with a variety of players available at different times in the competition but when they have their top players on the field like they did against Wales they ran in five second-half tries.

“Any team in any sport is always beatable. It’s up to us to get it right.

“We respect England who will have players with under-20 World Cup final experience – but we’re going to go out there to do a job on them and make life uncomfortable in Glasgow.”

SCOTLAND: Tom Brown, Oliver Grove, Jonny Kennedy, Alex Dunbar, Dougie Fife, Alex Blair, Alex Black, Nicky Little, Alun Walker, Colin Phillips, Matthew Reid, Robert Harley, Michael Maltman, Stuart McInally, David Denton

Replacements: Lindsey Gibson, George Hunter, Aaron Hall, Callum Stidston-Nott, Kris Hamilton, Matthew Scott, James Johnstone

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Six Nations Rugby 2010 : Scotland V England Hospitality

Scotland will target this game as their “championship” having not won a single match in 2010.  While their final game against Ireland will be intense, to beat their oldest enemy would put them in the winner’s circle, but more importantly, will scuttle any hopes England have of winning the Six Nations rugby 2010.

Andy Robinson and his side will want to again take steps forward.  They were on the right path, being competitive against France and dominating Wales for most of the game.  But the loss to Italy in Rome was damaging coming into this game for two key reasons.

Again the spectre of being unable to score tries reared its head, with the Italians keeping their try line intact.  But worse still is that England will in all their glorified pragmatism know that they need not do anything particular intricate to beat a Scottish side that is slowly growing, but still seemingly missing the necessary munitions needed to win them a test match.

Still, while England march up North with a stronger record in this tournament, and with a stronger looking match day squad, this is far from a guarantee of any success.  Far more impressive English sides than Martin Johnson’s current hybrid have come to Murrayfield and lost.  

Much of Scotland’s ability to succeed in what is only their second and final home game in 2010 will come down to belief.  Any confidence they had carefully built up since Robinson came on board would have evaporated with their loss to the Azzurri.

But they can compete, and will need to heed their coach’s call to be ruthless against England.  Scotland’s two domestic sides, both who are in the top four of the Magners League, showed that Scottish rugby is stronger than their mediocre recent international record suggests.  

Captain Chris Cusiter himself said that the creating and hard work is being done by the team, it is just a case of being more clinical to finish moves - and by association matches - off.

Crucial to their hopes will be their Glasgow spine, with their entire back row and numbers 9, 10, 11 and 12 in the backline all being Warriors.  These combinations should ensure a little more cohesiveness on the field, and that could be the difference between the two sides.

Certainly the Scottish pack is strong enough to resist anything the English throw at them.

For England, they have made only two changes, bringing in Wasps flanker Joe Worsley and Tigers second rower Louis Deacon.  

With their backline retained from their loss against Ireland, it is now or never for what is England’s front line three quarter division.  A loss here, coupled with another directionless display from their on-field tacticians, should increase the cadence – and rightly so – for Johnson to look elsewhere for men to wear the red rose.

England does have the superior record overall against the teams, including winning nine of the last 12.  But since 2006 the ledger stands at 2 wins apiece.  

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Worsley replaces Moody in England team to play Scotland - Scotland V England Hospitality

Flanker Joe Worsley will make his first start in this season's Six Nations for Scotland V Engalnd on Saturday after Lewis Moody was dropped by manager Martin Johnson on Tuesday.

Worsley will appear in the starting lineup for the first time since sustaining knee ligament damage in the opening minute of England's 19-6 loss to New Zealand in November.

"It was a very tough call. It is not a reflection at all on how Lewis has played," Johnson said. "It is more of a reflection on the strength and depth of the players we have in the squad.

"We felt it was the best call to put Joe in the starting team and have Lewis on the bench to make an impact. They are two different players. They can both play six and seven. There is not a weakness in Lewis' game but Joe's defence is good and his ball-carrying is particularly strong."

With lock Simon Shaw injured, Louis Deacon will start in the second row after coming off the bench early in the 20-16 loss to Ireland two weeks ago.

Lock Courtney Lawes comes onto a reshuffled bench which features a return for hooker Steve Thompson and a first call-up for Leicester scrum half Ben Youngs, who has replaced Paul Hodgson.

"Ben is playing well enough and we feel he deserves a chance," Johnson said. "Delon proved his fitness yesterday and trained vigorously. The same with Toby Flood, he has come through well after his injury at the weekend (playing for Leicester)."

England: Delon Armitage, Mark Cueto, Mathew Tait, Riki Flutey, Ugo Monye, Jonny Wilkinson, Danny Care; Tim Payne, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Louis Deacon, Steve Borthwick (captain), James Haskell, Joe Worsley, Nick Easter.

Replacements: Steve Thompson, David Wilson, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Moody, Ben Youngs, Toby Flood, Ben Foden.

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I had right to stay with England, says Stade Francais's James Haskell

James Haskell has insisted that his contract with Stade Francais allowed him to remain with England, despite claims to the contrary by the French club.
Haskell, who is expected to retain his place in England's side to face Scotland, has found himself at the centre of an escalating row between club and country over his services.

Attempting to defuse the row, Haskell said in a statement: "There has been so much erroneous comment regarding my contract with Stade Français that I feel I need to address the issue.

"The contract contains confidentiality clauses which I am bound to observe but I can say that the matter of my release for international duty and training is specifically provided for and I regret that there has been a misunderstanding with the club regarding this.

"I would like to make it clear that Stade Français have been very good to me and I am very happy in Paris. I am looking forward to playing for Stade Français again at the conclusion of the Six Nations."

Haskell's French-based England team-mate, Riki Flutey, will have no such concerns next season as the centre is set to return to Wasps after just one year at Brive.

The RFU will not be assisting the move financially, although England manager Martin Johnson will no doubt welcome Flutey's return to the elite player squad in World Cup year.

Johnson looks ready to make a number of changes for Saturday's game at Murrayfield. Leicester lock Louis Deacon will replace Simon Shaw, who has been ruled out by a shoulder injury. Tom Palmer has been called into the squad as cover.

Gloucester's Mike Tindall, one of five reinforcements called into the squad, could make a surprise return to the match-day 22. Tindall, who missed the autumn campaign with a hamstring injury, made only his second Premiership start since October for Gloucester against Wasps on Sunday.

Tindall has replaced Leicester centre Dan Hipkiss, who has an ankle problem, while Shane Geraghty has returned to the senior fold as precautionary cover for Toby Flood, who suffered a head injury on Saturday.

The full-back position was also the subject of debate, with Ben Foden a possible replacement for Delon Armitage, who is struggling with a rib injury. Flanker Joe Worsley, scrum-half Paul Hodgson and Chris Ashton, the Northampton wing, were also under consideration.

Gloucester full-back Olly Morgan has come in as cover for Armitage, while Leeds flanker Hendre Fourie has received his first senior call-up after Wasps' Dan Ward-Smith suffered knee ligament damage at the weekend.

Meanwhile fFormer England flanker Michael Lipman has demanded a meeting with the Australian Rugby Union after his proposed move to the Melbourne Rebels was blocked. The former Bath captain's ban for failing to take a drugs test expired on Feb 28, but the ARU have refused to sanction his move.

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Six Nations 2010: Grand Slam epic of 1990 still haunts England and Scotland

In an ideal world sport and politics, like oil and water, would never mix, but in truth they are often clanked together like magnets. Linked by passion, pride, ego, nationalism and self-esteem – sometimes you just cannot keep them apart.
There were other sub-plots. Scotland's brilliant madcap flanker John Jeffrey – JJ – insists to this day that the catalyst to the ill feeling off the pitch can be traced back to the streets of Glasgow seven months earlier when England and Scotland football supporters clashed horribly outside Hampden Park in scenes of violence that caused that oldest of all annual football fixtures to be cancelled, a situation that pertains.

Jeffrey argues that the tabloid press, deprived indefinitely of a football clash to hype up, turned their attention to the rugby. It is certainly another ingredient that needs to be added into the mix, but successful tabloid papers reflect existing emotions and mood.

A new mood of Scottish nationalism – although not necessarily independence – was afoot and Scotland's rugby folk were far from immune.

At the end of the 1989 season even the ultra-conservative Scottish Rugby Union, with the Princess Royal as their popular patron, decided that God Save the Queen was no longer a suitable anthem for their team and supporters.

For the 1990 Six Nations they switched Roy Williamson's folk ballad Flower of Scotland, which is dedicated to Scotland's victory at Bannockburn – Jeffrey had been humming it himself during the line-ups for years.

On the other hand, many cock-a-hoop England supporters, who had been starved of success and a team worth shouting for since 1980, arrived in Edinburgh on the Saturday morning wearing "England Grand Slam champions 1990" T-shirts.

Amid the politics and hype, however, lay a monumental rugby occasion. There was the famous long, slow, walk out by the Scotland team. It was the suggestion of captain David Sole, but it was by no means a new ploy.

The Lions of 1989 had tried it as a psychological tool against Australia, but it was clearly best utilised by the home team, whipping the home crowd into a frenzy by first delaying and then prolonging their entrance.

There were Scotland heroes aplenty that day but none bigger than the coach Jim Telfer, the man at the heart of two of Scotland's three Grand Slams, not to mention the Lions triumph in South Africa in 1997, when he again worked so well with Sir Ian McGeechan.

Telfer, a lump of granite from the Borders, 'beasted' his pack during arduous scrummaging and rucking sessions throughout the 1990 season, not least in the driving rain on the Wednesday before the England game.

His lasting memory of March 17, 1990 – his 50th birthday incidentally – is confined to a rugby moment in the first half when Finlay Calder blasted his way into the England defence and the entire Scotland pack pounced to produce perfect ruck ball.

"England were driven back and the crowd went wilder than I had ever heard them before. And I felt a shiver. Twenty years later I can close my eyes and still see it. The piece of perfection you dream about."

Everybody concerned has their own views of 1990 and you will probably read them all again this coming week, although possibly not from Calder. The Scotland flanker politely declined to contribute to a recent book surrounding the events of the game – feeling that Scotland need to be looking forward and not harking back to past battles won or lost.

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Six Nations 2010: Scotland coach Andy Robinson rings the changes for Cardiff

It is a little early in the RBS Six Nations championship for a last throw of the dice, but Scotland coach Andy Robinson certainly took some radical steps when he chose his team to take on Wales in the Millennium Stadium this weekend.

Robinson came to Scotland with a reputation as a great coach but a poor selector. If his players can put last weekend's 18-9 defeat by France behind them with an inspired performance in Cardiff then that simplistic caricature will have to be redrawn. If not, it will only be reinforced.

The selection of Euan Murray, the devoutly Christian tighthead prop who ruled himself out of last Sunday's match on religious grounds, was probably the only change that most followers of Scottish rugby would have foreseen.

As well as which, on Robinson's advice, Parks has lately been working on getting the players around him moving with ball in hand – a shift of emphasis that has been obvious in the victories that have taken Glasgow to the top of the Magners League.

"We have to balance up the way we play," Robinson explained. "We've got to be able to play with the ball in hand, but understand the territorial game and get the balance right within that. At the weekend we played far too much rugby in our own half but most importantly we turned ball over inside our own half and we can't afford to do that against quality opposition.

"We didn't build pressure on France when we did get into their territory. When we did kick well we let them out of their half too easily, through their driving play, the box-kicks and their scrum dominance. Whenever we had possession inside our own half we were fighting and scrapping to keep it."

As Parks is set to join Cardiff Blues at the end of this season, he might have highlighted this weekend as a good one for a house-hunting expedition, but he was never going to turn down Robinson's invitation.

He said: "I wouldn't say I was surprised, but I was obviously delighted to get the news this morning. I'm just happy and looking forward to the challenge on Saturday."

Toulon's Rory Lamont, who was ruled out of last week's selection by a niggling ankle injury, returns to the side on the left wing, taking the place of his brother Sean.

Sean, in turn, moves into the midfield, ousting Max Evans from the outside centre berth. Robinson explained that he wanted Sean's power as a line-breaker in a position where he might see more of the ball, although Sean's low opinion of his own distribution skills suggests that his wingers will be seeing much less of the thing.

Scotland's scrum creaked badly against France, and loosehead prop Alasdair Dickinson might consider himself lucky to keep his place as many of the side's problems seemed to have their origins on his side of the set-piece. Moray Low, in turn, might feel a little aggrieved to lose his place to Murray, although he took his leave of the side with some appreciative words from Robinson ringing in his ears.

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Beeb needs Scots broadcast, just ask Colin, or rather Chris

IF ever there was a compelling case for BBC Scotland producing its own broadcast for Scotland rugby international matches, it was from Cardiff.

On the occasion of Chris Paterson's historic 100th match for Scotland, he was introduced by BBC presenter John Inverdale as 'Colin Paterson'.

The excuse that this was just a slip of the tongue does not interest me, because

Inverdale went on to call the player 'Colin' again before the match had even started.

If Inverdale does not know Chris Paterson's name after 100 appearances for Scotland, during which he has become the best goal kicker in the sport, he never will.

It was an insult to Paterson to get his name wrong not once but twice as he achieved such a milestone in the game, with only a handful of other players having won a hundred caps for their country.

We then had the commentators twice going on about Alasdair Dickinson's error of judgment which led to his sin-binning. Dickinson must have been wondering about that as well, because he had been substituted some time before his team-mate Scott Lawson was shown the yellow card.

To make matters worse, after having to suffer Jonathan Davies willing Wales over the try-line, we then had to listen to incredible remarks from players after the match about Wales going on to win the championship.

While consistent with similar claims of huge strides being made off the field, the problem is that it is still 'jam tomorrow'. The other difficult fact militating against accepting Johnson's assertion is that it is difficult to see under what circumstances such latent talent will come forth. Having forced Ireland to make four times as many tackles and dominated possession, territory and the set-piece scrums, England are unlikely to be able to have better circumstances from which to challenge the better teams in world rugby. Though they had all this ball, all these positions, they were still outscored by three tries to one and their crossing of the line came from good forward play. When they tried to engage their opponents with a more expansive game plan they were taught a lesson in finishing.

For heaven's sake, they lost to England and then scored with the last move of the game against 13 men. Champions? Champions of Wales, maybe.

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Brian Moore: England's backs go missing in action against Ireland

The Twickenham agnostics, are metaphorically starting to hum this refrain after Martin Johnson's claim that England's narrow loss to Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday showed "there is still obviously a lot more in us".

The responsibility for this inability to score tries, or make repeated openings, has been laid squarely at Jonny Wilkinson's feet, but this game showed that the defect is far from his sole

responsibility. Riki Flutey's contribution from No 12 is the key to taking the right options during open play and whatever creative light he possesses it was hidden so far under the bushel as to be virtually invisible. He was simply missing in action.

When you add to this the failure of Mathew Tait to demand the ball, the continued non-communication between the back three and the technically-flawed service of his scrum-half, you see that Wilkinson is shouldering much of the criticism for what is a systemic failure of England's backs.

It is unfair and inaccurate to single out the No 10 when there are a multitude of other contributory factors: Toby Flood, for example, would have done no better last Saturday. Moreover, even if Wilkinson had played flawlessly, the refusal of nearly all his fellow backs to accept their responsibility to think clearly and act accordingly would have rendered his contribution worthless.

The most damning aspect of England's loss, however, was the one problem that has been highlighted so often that it has almost become accepted as a natural state of affairs; something intractable, criticised only by those who are fatally out of touch with the essentials of the modern game – slow ball. How many times does this point have to be made before it is addressed properly? The body positions of players taking the ball into contact, their delivery of the ball when going to ground, the failure of clearing players to go beyond the ball – all these remain clear. Without a solution to this malaise, England cannot progress properly and it is time someone was held to account.

Fortunately the French have been almost single-handedly showing that, sporadically, northern hemisphere rugby is capable of matching its southern counterpart. Their first-half dismantling of the Welsh was as clinical as was their mistaken tactical decision to sit back and play for territory in the second half, which merely ceded ball to a struggling opposition who gleefully accepted the implicit invitation to attack.

In making this mistake the French showed they are not immune from the muddled thinking that passes as 'the game today'. What remains ineluctable is that without the ball you cannot score and kicking the ball long means you do not have the ball. Perhaps the simplicity of this notion renders it unacceptable to modern thinkers who insist on cloaking everything in jargon.

The seismic change in the French attitude to defence has underpinned every success they have achieved in the last two years and if they can rid themselves of even a modicum of inconsistency, they have the chance to mount a serious World Cup challenge.

The Scots have been handed a similar lecture, albeit that theirs has come at the other end of the spectrum; it takes only one period in which you dominate, but do not score, to see you scrapping for the wooden spoon.

This Six Nations rugby has been distinctly average, although it still produces the unexpected and has provided several tight finishes; in this at least it continues to demonstrate its worth.

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1990 Grand Slam match 'only a game'

RUGBY legend David Sole has criticised claims Scotland's 1990 Grand Slam victory over England was more than just a game.

In a letter in today's Scotsman, the man who captained Scotland to that historic 13-7 victory says it was not a question of "settling scores, of getting 'one over' on the English or of putting political wrongs right".

It was, he said, just a great sporting moment.

Earlier this year, former England rugby hooker, Brian Moore, belittled Scotland's victory, claiming anti-English bigotry and hatred of the poll tax were behind the historic success.

In his autobiography Beware the Dog, Moore claimed the Scottish victory in the winner-takes-all Five Nations decider was fuelled not by superior skills and tactics, but by hatred over the imposition of the poll tax by Margaret Thatcher's government, as well as anti-English fervour.

Moore's view that the match was more than just the clash of two rival sides is echoed in Scotland of Sunday chief sports writer Tom English's new book The Grudge: Scotland vs England, 1990, in which Moore repeats his belief that Scotland saw the England side as "Thatcher's team".

The book also includes comments by the then England captain, Will Carling, who said that in the run up to the game he had been branded by the media as "Thatcher's captain".

However, Sole dismisses claims of a political or anti-English dimension in the Scottish team's phenomenal performance on the day. He said there was already a bond of friendship between both teams that had been formed during a tough British Lions tour of Australia the year before.

"Friendships were forged that remain to this day but above all, a mutual respect grew amongst the squad of players – respect that carried over from 1989 to the Five Nations Championship of 1990," he said. "It was not a question of settling scores, of getting 'one over' on the English or of putting political wrongs right. It was simply a game of rugby – the only difference was that there was a Grand Slam at stake.

"It is a shame that the victory has been interpreted by some as something more than that, but if that is the belief that they hold, then that is their right, but to do so diminishes what the game represented for many others.

"To continue to hold such xenophobic beliefs is not healthy for Scotland as a nation. We should continue to be fierce rivals of England, but in my view that rivalry should be no different to any other nation that we compete against. Let us be proud of our achievements – and I shall be extremely proud of the Grand Slam of 1990 – but let us view them for what they are – great moments in sport, no more, no less."

Over the years, alternative explanations have been given for the Scottish team's fervour on the pitch. They include tales of commemorative "England Grand Slam 1990" T-shirts and ties being on sale in Edinburgh before the game.

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English WAGs helped inspire Scotland to 1990 Grand Slam victory over England

I am sure my fellow resident on these pages, Brian Moore - with whom I have more than once enjoyed banter on the airwaves - will welcome a calibrated alternative view of the events of March 17, 1990, when Scotland beat England to win the Grand Slam at Murrayfield.

Glory day: Chris Gray, David Sole and Finlay Calder celebrate during the 13-7 Grand Slam victory over England at Murrayfield Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Brian believes – understandably given the way the sky fell on England that afternoon – that almost supernatural forces propelled Tony Stanger across the line for the Scots' winning try.

In his book, Beware of the Dog, which has rattled a few cages north of the border, Brian states that antipathy towards Margaret Thatcher, loathing of the poll tax and downright xenophobic anti-Englishness were behind Scotland's greatest ever victory on the rugby field.

Well, it is certainly true that the Iron Lady was not held in the highest regard in Scotland but the day she was demonised at a sporting event was when she turned up at Hampden Park for the Celtic v Dundee United Scottish Cup final in 1985.

She was greeted with a mass display of red cards in protest against health service cuts and then had to sit through a barrage of songs and chants of such profanity – including one about her husband, Denis – that they cannot be hinted at here.

By contrast, Murrayfield, with its large numbers of supporters drawn from the Scottish public and private school system, was much more like Thatcher's natural constituency.

As for the poll tax, while substantial numbers protested by refusing to pay in Scotland, there was no civil disorder.

In fact, the worst violence, which left5,000 injured and led to 339 arrests – happened in Trafalgar Square exactly two weeks after David Sole's side won the Grand Slam.

On the other hand, a certain frisson may have been created by the evident assumption on the part of several English players that they had only to turn up to collect the prize – hence their insistence on being photographed underneath the posts with the rugby WAGs an hour before kick-off, an event noted by the home support and players.

And, as my wife and I left Murrayfield that day, we came across a white woollen sweater trampled into the mud.

It bore the red rose crest, around which were the words "England 1990 Grand Slam Winners".

I have always regretted that we didn't take it home and stick it in the wash.

Still – and my dear friend Brian will be the first to say as much – it is never too late to cleanse the doors of perception.

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Ooh for ah player like Cantona

SCOTLAND rugby coach Andy Robinson names his squad tomorrow for training at St Andrews next week in preparation for the RBS Six Nations Championship. Evening News rugby writer BILL LOTHIAN gives an insight into what makes the coach tick

ANDY ROBINSON has used footballer Eric Cantona as an example of a sportsman who symbolises the message he is trying to put across to Scotland's rugby squad.

That situation revolved around one of Scotland's least experienced players and it is Robinson's goal to have rookies and stalwarts alike backing themselves.


Also, the former England cap wants players to be regularly asking 'why?'


"Asking why is better than acting like a lemming without knowing how to improve. Lots of players take up positions without thinking. The reason is that they are comfortable there.


"It's about challenging them to get to the next step.


Scotland's defence was lauded in the Autumn and Robinson said: "With a defence that defended the way we did you can attack from deeper.


"There has been some improvement in the understanding of our attack.

"Coaching defence is a lot simpler than putting together a framework for attack. All systems for defence are similar throughout the world.


"One area that we have to develop is peripheral vision with awareness of players around as well as the ability to scan and see."


It is likely that Robinson's initial selection, which will eventually be cut to a matchday 22, will take into account the Scotland A fixture against Ireland in Dublin on Sat Mar 20, 2010

(17:00), when it is likely the selection will be heavily based on the side which thumped Tonga 38-7 at Galashiels in November.

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The opportunity will almost certainly be taken to integrate Euan Murray back into a dark blue jersey, the Lions prop having missed the Autumn Tests due to injury.

He will also delay any entry to the Six Nations at least until Scotland head for Wales on Saturday 13 February because the Sunday fixture against France conflicts with his religious principles.


If Scotland can get off to a winning start against it will be the first time in the Six Nations since Robinson's predecessor, Frank Hadden launched his Test career with a 20-16 win over France at Murrayfield in 2006.


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Rob Moffat buoyed as Rory Hutton muscles into contention

ROB Moffat may have finally broken the glass ceiling for the next group of emerging stand-offs by handing Rory Hutton his Magners League debut, but, having done so, the experienced Edinburgh coach could have given himself a real selection headache for the team's Heineken Cup matches over the next fortnight.

Had Edinburgh beaten Bath, as they probably should have done, at the Recreation Ground in early December, they would be staring at a great opportunity to qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter- finals. It is now slim, but the chance is not gone. Edinburgh need to win their remaining games, beating Ulster at Ravenhill for the second time this season and then Stade Francais at Murrayfield, preferably with bonus points. They may not even need Bath to win in Paris this weekend, though that would help.

It is not impossible as Stade have endured a tough time in recent weeks and are looking at a very French solution to the problem of running out of scrum-halves – playing the hooker there this week. Countless French sides have also shown an aversion to playing in Scotland, with Pau, Colomiers, Grenoble, Toulouse, Agen, Clermont Auvergne, Perpignan, Bourgoin, Castres and Biarritz all returning home winless. Stade also lost at Ulster this season for a third time.

If winning the pool and grasping one of the two best runners-up spots fails to materialise, two wins could still hand Edinburgh a place in the last eight of the Amlin Challenge Cup, and seal European rugby and more income in the latter stages of the season. So these games are important. There were many plus points in Saturday's team performance, notably up front, but after finding a stand-off with the ability to surprise a defence like Cardiff's and energise players around him the way Hutton did, the coach might have been tempted to stick with the same team.

However, he cannot. Hutton was not registered for the Heineken Cup as he was not in the frame for selection at the last stage of squad changes. That has eased Moffat's week somewhat, as the coach has the Scotland stand-off Phil Godman champing at the bit to return after a week off to rest a hip injury.

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