Will It Be Scotland The Brave?

What have we learned from Thursday's announcement by Scotland head coach Andy Robinson of the 36 man squad for the RBS 6 Nations?

Well, on the face of it, it's encouraging. Sure, there is a promising influx of young talent, all of whom have earned their places with solid and consistent performances so far this season, not least Duncan Weir, Stuart Hogg, Fraser McKenzie and Rob Harley and a mention to London Irish's Steven Shingler who if I'm honest I don't know a great deal about. But with a massive 36 names being announced I fear that most, if not all of these names won't get a shot at first team action, particularly if Scotland have a good start to the tournament.

Glasgow's 19-year-old Stuart Hogg has earned himself a shot

at a Scotland cap

The 6 Nations schedule is particularly tough this year, certainly compared to last year in my opinion. Firstly, we have only 2 home games, starting with England in the opening weekend. A trip to Wales is then followed by the second home game against provisional favourites France and then there is a trip to Dublin and then a finish in Rome - a fixture clearly seen by the organisers (perhaps fairly given recent seasons) as the competition to avoid the wooden spoon; something to fight for on the final weekend.

If Scotland get off to a good start by beating England (remember the English haven't won in Scotland since 2004), then I would be surprised if Robinson changes the setup for risk of losing the next game.

It is widely thought that he won't field the promising newcomers to the international setup on February 4th, and if that is the case, what chance will they have for the rest of the tournament?

'Even' numbered years have always provided the best opportunities for a top 3 place, or even a grand slam (see 1984 & 1990). With England and France at home, recent coaches have always played their 'go-to' men knowing that home victories in those fixtures could set up a successful tournament.

Alternatively, if it does come down to avoiding propping up the table come the final weekend this year, I also don't see Robinson fielding an experimental team for the risk of embarrassment.

There is precedent. When Robinson took the England job following the 2003 RWC, he was forced to name lots of new players in the squad in the wake of multiple test rugby retirements. However more often than not he would revert to type and select those players he had been coaching under Clive Woodward.

I think the inclusion of players like Dan Parks and particularly Simon Danielli goes a long way to letting us know that Robinson intends on playing a similar game. I bet he's even secretly rueing the recent decision by Chris Paterson to retire from international rugby.

I hope I'm wrong. Scottish rugby has a huge opportunity to build on recent and ongoing domestic success and with 2 years until the next Lions tour and 4 until the next RWC, surely now is the optimum time to be blooding young talent in the test arena? I guess we'll find out in less than a month's time.