Formidable Scotland a major test for Wolfhounds

A INTERNATIONAL NEWS:SCOTTISH RUGBY'S upward curve will be evident tomorrow evening in Belfast as A coach Sean Lineen has access to recent Lions in scrumhalf Mike Blair and Euan Murray, probably the best Northern Hemisphere tighthead prop right now.

Add Nick de Luca and in-form Ulster winger Simon Danielli to the three-quarter line with the supposed saviour of Scottish outhalf play, Glasgow’s Ruaridh Jackson, all feeding off a beefy pack that includes huge lock Jim Hamilton and the Scots look formidable

All told, they will have 206 international caps on display at Ravenhill (kick-off 7.30pm).

That still pales in comparison to the 293 Irish caps but these are largely carried by two men; Peter Stringer’s scrumhalf record of 91 and the recuperating Marcus Horan (66), who is in for a serious examination from Murray in a prelude to Northampton’s return to Thomond Park in April for the Heineken Cup quarter-final.

If not for injury, Murray looked a certain starter against the Springboks last summer and is expected to feature prominently in the Six Nations from round two onwards.

The newly-christened Irish Wolfhounds (well, an old Irish rugby moniker reborn) lost 17-13 to a young England Saxons side last weekend in Bath but that is not much of a reference point as senior coach Declan Kidney made seven changes in personnel most significantly due to the promotions of Seán O’Brien, Rory Best and Paddy Wallace to the Test match bench.

Munster’s latest signing, Johne Murphy, comes onto the wing in place of Connacht’s Fionn Carr who is unlucky to miss out entirely as he is the quickest man in the Irish system at present.

Ulster’s Darren Cave gets the chance to kick-start his stalled progress at outside centre with Keith Matthews dropped and Fergus McFadden moving to inside centre. Cave will be familiar with the vast array of attacking skills Ian Humphreys brings to the number 10 slot as he replaces Wallace.

In the forwards, Seán Cronin comes in for Best at hooker, Ryan Caldwell for Mick O’Driscoll at lock, Dan Tuohy is at blindside flanker for O’Brien and John Muldoon makes way at number eight for Chris Henry, who also captains the side.

After Stringer and Horan, Tony Buckley is the most experienced player with 14 senior appearances and he manages to hold off Leinster tighthead Mike Ross, who has been living off a meagre rations since switching from Harlequins to Leinster, but at present they are the two men fighting to replace John Hayes when he eventually steps off the treadmill. Granted, Australian-born Tom Court is currently ahead of both in the tighthead reckoning.

The match also represents valuable game time for Shane Jennings who has seen younger Leinster flankers Kevin McLaughlin and O’Brien move ahead of him in the national pecking order since November.

Tickets are still available and can be purchased on ulsterrugby.com, the Ravenhill ticket office (from 9am to 5pm) and on the ticket hotline, 02890493222.

IRELAND WOLFHOUNDS (v Scotland A): G Duffy (Galwegians, Connacht); J Murphy (Leicester), D Cave (Belfast Harlequins, Ulster), F McFadden (Old Belvedere, Leinster), I Dowling (Shannon, Munster); I Humphreys (Ballymena, Ulster), P Stringer (Shannon, Munster); M Horan (Shannon, Munster), S Cronin (Buccaneers, Connacht), T Buckley (Shannon, Munster); R Caldwell (Dungannon, Ulster), D Toner (Lansdowne, Leinster); D Tuohy (Ballymena, Ulster), S Jennings (St Mary’s, Leinster), C Henry (Ballymena, Ulster). Replacements: N Brady (Dungannon, Ulster), M Ross (Clontarf, Leinster), E O’Donghue (Belfast Harlequins, Ulster), N Ronan (Shannon, Munster), I Boss (Ballymena, Ulster), I Keatley (Galwegians, Connacht), K Matthews (Buccaneers, Connacht).

SCOTLAND A (v Irish Wolfhounds): J Thompson (Edinburgh); N Walker (Ospreys), B Cairns (Edinburgh), N De Luca (Edinburgh), S Danielli (Ulster); R Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), M Blair (capt, Edinburgh); J Welsh (Glasgow Warriors), D Hall (Glasgow Warriors), E Murray (Northampton Saints); S MacLeod (Edinburgh), J Hamilton (Edinburgh); J Eddie (Glasgow Warriors), R Grant (Edinburgh), S Gray (Northampton Saints). Replacements: A Kelly (Edinburgh), K Traynor (Edinburgh), C Hamilton (Edinburgh), F McKenzie (Edinburgh), G Laidlaw (Edinburgh), R Dewey (Glasgow Warriors), J Houston (Edinburgh).