COACH BLAIR IS HAPPY EVEN THOUGH HE LOSES NINE MEN AHEAD OF ENGLAND CLASH
Scotland ‘A’ coach Mike Blair insists he is happy with the team he has been able to put out for today’s game against England, despite losing nine squad members because of Covid protocols.
One unnamed member of the group tested positive on Thursday, and another eight were identified as close contacts and told to self-isolate.
That meant Blair had to draft in five new players to his squad, meaning the team for the game in Leicester have had little time together in training.
But the coach is still confident that his players can rise to the occasion against a strong England side.
And, with places up for grabs in next month’s full internationals against Romania and Georgia, he believes his underdogs have
the perfect incentive to do well. He said: “I’m really pleased with the squad we’ve been able to put together.
“You would think that with the players missing we would start to struggle, but I’m really pleased with the team we’re able to put out.
“All we can do is do the best we can, and through other people’s misfortunes other people have the opportunity to shine and show what they can do.
“We’ve not had a huge amount of time together as a squad, but we have a lot of talent.
“We want them to put their hands up and show they can make the step up to international rugby.”
Leicester centre Matt Scott, who has 39 caps, takes over as captain from the absent Jamie Ritchie. But there are also a lot of players who are untried at this level, and Blair knows this match will be a test of character for them against formidable opponents.
“We’ve got a good record against England recently, and in our last couple of England A games as well,” he continued.
“We want to see how our guys play, how they react to different situations they’re put in.
“So if guys play really well in this game against such a topquality team as England A, then that’s going to raise their stock even more.
“So I’m delighted to be playing against a strong team and seeing how we react to that.”
TODAY’S TEAMS
ENGLAND A (v Scotland A at Welford Road, Leicester, today 2pm): F Steward; A Radwan, O Lawrence, D Kelly, M Malins; J Umaga, H Randall; E Genge, C Langdon, J Heyes, H Wells, C Ewels, L Ludlow (captain), B Curry, C Chick. Substitutes: J Blamire, B Obano, T Davison, T Hill, L Ludlam, D Robson, G Furbank, J Cokanasiga. SCOTLAND A: D Hoyland; R Mclean, M Scott (captain), S Mcdowall, B Kinghorn; R Thompson, C Shiel; N Auterac, E Ashman, O Kebble, C Henderson, K Mcdonald, J Bayliss, R Darge, M Bradbury. Substitutes: A Mcburney, R Hislop, J Sebastian, J Hodgson, C Hunter-hill, B Vellacott, A Hastings, G Taylor.