 Lineen was not so happy about his side's display against Georgia |
Sean Lineen has made 13 changes to the Scotland A side he said shamed the country against Georgia and hopes that they are inspired by the senior team. Scotland defeated Argentina just 24 hours after the A team lost 22-21 in their IRB Nations Cup opener. "Everyone's delighted with the senior team's brilliant victory in Argentina and that should inspire us against what is another World Cup outfit in Namibia. "The way the Scotland team played was outstanding," said the A team coach. "They moved the ball well and they defended outstandingly well and that's something we're looking to aspire to with the way we're trying to play." Lineen's squad were in a Bucharest restaurant on Saturday night watching on television as a Dan Parks-inspired Scotland side beat the Pumas 24-16 in the first of their two Tests.  | Namibia know their rugby and this is their World Cup squad, but we want to make a mark here this week Scotland A coach Sean Lineen |
The A team face a full-strength Namibia on Tuesday in the second of their three matches in the tournament the Scots won last summer. "They play an attacking brand of rugby, so it'll be a good game - there's no doubt about that," said Lineen, pinpointing scrum-half Eugene Jantjies as a threat. "They've got an incredibly quick back three, they've got a nine who is a quality player - he helps them tick - and up front they've got some hardy men. "They know their rugby and this is their World Cup squad, but we want to make a mark here this week, so it's important that we do well." Lineen said on Friday that his players let themselves and their country down in losing to Georgia and he has responded with 13 changes, including five positional. In the backs, only Jack Cuthbert and Mark Robertson remain. Colin Shaw and Rob Dewey are unavailable for selection because of injuries, so John Houston moves to the wing from inside centre, where he is replaced with Bryan Rennie. Ben Cairns is installed at outside centre as the half-backs are rotated to give Mark McMillan and David Blair their first starts of the competition. Lineen has reshuffled his forward pack to hand Andrew Kelly and David Young starting berths in the front row, while Bruce Douglas moves from loosehead to tighthead prop. James Eddie is given the nod once again in the second row, but this time he will move to the other side of the scrum to partner Fraser McKenzie. In the back row, flanker Chris Fusaro, who scored after coming off the bench last week, starts ahead of Scott Newlands. As a result, captain Ally Hogg moves to blindside and Roddy Grant dons the number eight jersey. On the bench, both National Academy prop Lewis Niven and Glasgow Warriors full-back Peter Horne are poised to make their Scotland A debuts.
Scotland A: J Cuthbert (Bath); J Houston (Edinburgh), B Cairns (Edinburgh), B Rennie (Exeter Chiefs), M Robertson (Edinburgh); D Blair (Edinburgh), M McMillan (Glasgow Warriors); B Douglas (Montpellier), A Kelly (Edinburgh), D Young (Edinburgh), F McKenzie (Edinburgh), J Eddie (Glasgow Warriors), A Hogg (Edinburgh). Replacements: F Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), E Kalman (Glasgow Warriors), L Niven (Edinburgh Accies), S Newlands (Edinburgh), G Laidlaw (Edinburgh), A Blair (Edinburgh), P Horne (Glasgow Warriors).
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