HARD HITTING VIEW
Scotland’s A XV has been resurrected for a match against England A before the full national team heads to Europe for a summer tour, consisting of two test matches in July against Romania and Georgia.
With eight of Scotland’s first-choice players on tour with the British and Irish Lions, it will be a great opportunity to test the strength-indepth in Scottish rugby, while also looking to the next generation of players to press for higher honours.
With Gregor Townsend part of Warren Gatland’s coaching team in South Africa, the responsibility of leading the touring party falls to Mike Blair, the former scrum-half.
It is a big step up for Blair and his first opportunity in the role of head coach in any capacity.
Since giving up rugby in 2016, his first post was as assistant-coach at Glasgow Warriors before being appointed assistant-coach of the national team.
Clearly, the SRU have complete confidence in Blair and it is encouraging to see another ‘homegrown’ Scottish coach being given the opportunity to show what he can do on the international stage.
The matches against Romania and Georgia should be formalities, even with the number of Lions. But they cannot be taken for granted and the
‘ Jones will undoubtedly be hurting from a dismal Six Nations
Georgians, in particular, would love to take the scalp of a tier-one nation, even if it is a weakened team.
It is good to see the reinstatement of the A team as well.
Bridging the gap between the professional club game and full international is important, and it was surprising that the A team fixtures dropped out of the rugby calendar.
There is a significant step up from club rugby to the international stage and the more players are exposed to that, the better.
The match against England A at Leicester, in front of a crowd of around 6000 fans, will be a real test for the Scots and, at the same time, a great opportunity for players to push for further recognition.
England have incredible strengthin-depth and Eddie Jones will be wanting to test that out, especially with a number of his own players also absent with the Lions.
He will undoubtedly be hurting from a pretty-dismal Six Nations and, despite the positive noises coming out of Twickenham in support of him, his coat must be on a shoogly peg.
Should Scotland A defeat England A, as they have done before away from home, it would be a real feather in the cap for players and coach alike, and a clear declaration that A games should be reinstated.
After all, a certain Stuart Hogg made a great impression scoring a brilliant try as long ago as 2012 – one wonders who could emulate him come the summer.