Encouraging performances, if not results, in the autumn tests against Argentina, Samoa and New Zealand, the improvement of Edinburgh Gunners and, especially, Border Reivers in the Celtic League, have created optimism which I believe will give Scotland an edge going into the main event. Confidence can help you win tight games, but the only way Scotland can kick the national habit of narrow defeats is by ensuring they are still in the match going into the last quarter. Stirring, late comebacks that fall short have been a feature of the Scottish game at all levels, but that just won’t do in this campaign.
We have to believe we can beat teams, starting with the French, who are definitely not invulnerable. Playing the team many view as tournament favourites, but who are notoriously slow starters, is a great opportunity to make a spectacular start, but so much depends on who Hadden selects.
The back three picks itself. Paterson at full-back and the Lamont brothers on the wings. Paterson is not a natural No15 in the mould of his Gunners teammate Hugo Southwell, whom I believe runs better angles. Paterson could be put in the same bracket as Gregor Townsend, in that nobody really knows his optimum position, but if I was to pick his best game in a Scotland jersey in recent times, it would be the World Cup quarter-final against Australia in November 2003, a game where, significantly, he started at stand-off. Hadden has, nevertheless, reiterated he will not play him there.
Nikki Walker is starting to perform with real purpose and his recall shows that Hadden will reward good performances. Even though Sean and Rory Lamont are close to making themselves first-picks, the competition for the wing berths is considerable. Simon Webster is always a threat, and it would have been interesting to see who missed out if Simon Danielli had been fully fit.
Only Rob Dewey, the Edinburgh centre, has stood up this season and screamed to Hadden, “cap me”. What a pity that the 19-year-old has been out with a shoulder injury. He made his comeback against Wasps yesterday, and will definitely get his turn. With Dewey out, Henderson and Marcus Di Rollo have done enough to secure the centre combination but they need to open up defences and allow their back three to run off them. If they do not deliver, Hadden will have no qualms about throwing in the former rugby league player Ben MacDougall. He is certainly a handful but I am not convinced he or Graeme Morrison merit a test cap yet.
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The selection dilemma for the half-back combination is as awkward as it is beautiful. Take your pick, Ross v Parks, Cusiter v Blair. Ross was first-choice fly-half at the end of last season, but lost his place in the autumn to Phil Godman. Ross has stepped up to the mark recently at Leeds Tykes and it is Godman who has fallen out of favour. How the game can change. With Parks you know what you’ll get. An astute kicker of the ball, his mercurial displays are either match winning or consummately frustrating. He is a good footballer, but I’d give the nod to Ross.
I like both No9s and Mike Blair has been playing well. His fluency might give him the edge but it is the terrier like approach of a fired-up Cusiter that wins the day for me. Cast your mind back to his performance against France last year. The front row that started against New Zealand will lock arms again. Kerr, Lawson and Douglas. It is good to see Euan Murray back in the squad, likewise young hooker Ross Ford and in the boiler house Scott Murray is having a fine season.
He celebrated his 30th birthday last Sunday, and will need to utilize all that experience by dominating the lineout and taking ball across the gain line if Scotland are to have a chance of playing on the front foot.
Alastair Kellock is benefiting from playing alongside Murray and whilst Craig Hamilton fully merited his place in the autumn tests I have not seen him play as well as he did back then for him to retain his starting place.
In the back row the combination is key. White has the blind-side sewn up and is a wise choice as captain. He leads by example: dynamic, hard hitting, 100%. If Simon Taylor secures the No8 position he has to eliminate the stupid errors and yellow cards that have blighted his recent performances. In the second Heineken Cup rubber against Toulouse he played like the Taylor of old. His play off the lineout and linkage was excellent and if he can explode off the set-piece and get his hands on the ball more often then he can be a stand-out.
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Taylor will come under pressure from Jon Petrie but he needs game time and the former’s past reputation will see him retained. At open-side, Alastair Hogg has matured well and, like Cusiter, he was outstanding last year. Scotland have the ability to beat the French and also produce attractive rugby, but it all has to start up front. The signals this time are good. It is not about winning second halves, playing for 60 minutes, or being beaten by a referee’s decision. International rugby and playing for Scotland is about winning. Let’s get started.