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Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Low Blow

Andy Robinson picked a huge squad of 36 men for the start of the Scottish 6 Nations campaign.  Most of the reaction has been dominated by the inclusion of Stephen Shingler in the set-up which has sparked debate between the SRU and WRU over his eligibility.  The IRB have now got involved to look at the situation, which I can't imagine will be resolved quickly.

With 36, you would safely assume that all positions would be adequately covered.  Indeed, the inclusion of 4 scrum halves and 4 fly halves is perhaps over the top.  But there is one area that looks particularly deficient, and that's in the front row, specifically a tight head prop.

Today saw the news that Glasgow prop Moray Low will be out for the next 8 weeks, meaning he'll miss at least the first 2 games of the tournament, and probably the third even if his recovery goes well.  He may not be the first pick for Robinson, but in such a specialist position, I would have wagered that he would be the number 2 to Euan Murray.

Moray Low - Set to miss most of the RBS 6 Nations

Murray doesn't play rugby on Sunday's for religious reasons, which rules him out of the second and third games of the tournament in Cardiff and at home to France; two games that may be seen as realistic chances of getting points.  So where does that leave Scotland at tight head?

It's not as easy as saying that loose head props can simply transfer across the front row to fill in, though there are some occasions when it's been foced to happen, not least Al Dickinson who has reluctantly filled the gap a few times.

Scotland's options are thin on the ground, and Robinson will be struggling to find a quality replacement for Low and Murray in the first few weeks of the tournament.  The scrum is something that Scotland will be looking to edge over the English on February 4th at Murrayfield, but it looks like Euan Murray might have to play 80 minutes in order to do so.

Robinson has a couple of weeks to look over his options before the first training camp at the end of the month.  I don't envy the decision he has to make.

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