Boss is ruled out of Scottish game

RUGBY:Isaac Boss has been taken out of Eddie O'Sullivan's plans for Ireland's Triple Crown-deciding game against Scotland on Saturday in Murrayfield. The Ulster scrum-half, who scored Ireland's last try against England after an intercept at Croke Park, was ruled out of contention following a scan on his injured shoulder yesterday morning.

Boss, who came off the bench against England and started against France and has proven to be perfect cover for Peter Stringer, hurt his left shoulder during Ulster's Magners Celtic League match at the weekend in Stradey Park against Llanelli. From that disappointment, however, the positive news was that it was not the shoulder that he had previously injured.

Boss lasted only 18 minutes before leaving the pitch as Ulster went down 17-11. The scan took place in Belfast and the results confirmed that he had, as expected, injured his AC joint. He will undergo a rehabilitation programme and the injury will be reassessed next week.

The New Zealand-born player's injury will probably give Wasps scrumhalf Eoin Reddan a chance of a bench place. Reddan was one of 10 players added to the squad this week along with Leicester's Geordan Murphy, Munster's Frankie Sheahan and the recently conceived High Performance Group of players.

Boss was the only player from O'Sullivan's current squad reported to have been injured in the weekend round of Celtic League games.

Meanwhile, Scotland forwards coach George Graham believes the Scotland pack can provide the platform from which the national team can bounce back after last Saturday's shock defeat to Italy.

"I have no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best packs that Scotland have had for many a year - and that is not false bravado," he said.

"I'm not saying that because I'm in charge of them, I'm saying that because of the boys we have in there.

"The Irish pack are doing very, very well - they are very competitive, they are aggressive around the breakdown and their set-pieces are quite steady - but the Scottish coaches have done their homework and we are aware of that.

"Everyone takes a beating when you lose to a team that you are expected to win against, but the fact that we lost against England then bounced back against Wales shows the mental strength of this squad," he said.

"Sometimes results like that (against Italy) give the players a little spur to play better and I think the guys are looking forward to Saturday."

Graham praised the Scottish medical team for their success in helping Chris Paterson, Dave Callam and Euan Murray recover from the various injuries suffered against Italy.

All three are expected to be available for selection when the team is announced on Wednesday morning.

"The medical team have been working very hard and we're confident that all the guys who picked up knocks against Italy will be fit for Saturday," added Graham.