Rory Lamont will replace his injured brother Sean on the left-wing in the only change made by Scotland for Saturday’s Murrayfield meeting with South Africa.
Sean Lamont was ruled out after suffering a hamstring injury in a 32-6 defeat by New Zealand last Saturday.
The Scots conceded four tries in that match and failed to cross the All Blacks line themselves but head coach Frank Hadden was encouraged by elements of his side’s performance and has opted for an unchanged pack.
Flanker Jason White’s place in the side had been felt to be under threat from Gloucester’s Alasdair Strokosch, but Hadden believes the former captain’s physical presence and experience in the lineout will be crucial against the Springboks.
”We didn’t just rubber stamp last Saturday’s team,” Hadden said.
”Strokosch can consider himself very unlucky not to be in the side.”
Strokosch may yet feature after being asked to stay with the squad because of concerns over the fitness of second-row duo Jim Hamilton and Nathan Hines.
Hadden is hoping those two will both be fit for what he expects to be a robust battle of the packs.
”If you don’t front up physically against South Africa, you don’t get into the game,” he said.
”We’re expecting a big confrontation and that is reflected in the pack we’ve gone for. We created a lot of opportunities against New Zealand. We’re determined to turn them into points this weekend.”
Glasgow wing Thom Evans looked sharp on the rare occasions he got the ball against the All Blacks but he is struggling with a back problem and the Scots have retained Edinburgh wide-man Simon Webster as cover in the event of him not recovering sufficiently. – AFP
Team:
Chris Paterson (Edinburgh); Thom Evans (Glasgow), Ben Cairns (Edinburgh), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Rory Lamont (Sale/ENG); Phil Godman (Edinburgh), Mike Blair (Edinburgh); Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), John Barclay (Glasgow), Jason White (Sale/ENG); Jim Hamilton (Edinburgh), Nathan Hines (Perpignan/FRA); Euan Murray (Northampton/ENG), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh)