Pushing for start: Nick De Luca
Andy Robinson will on Tuesday decide who to reward for Scotland's historic victory over Australia when he names his team for Saturday's final autumn international against Argentina.
Head Coach Robinson stuck with an unchanged line-up against the Wallabies following a win in his first match in charge against Fiji.
But a number of his substitutes at Murrayfield on Saturday really staked a claim for inclusion this weekend, either for a place in the starting line-up or a spot on the bench.
Nick De Luca appears to be the likeliest beneficiary, the Edinburgh centre taking full advantage of his half-time introduction for the underperforming Graeme Morrison.
Jason White also put his hand up after coming on for Alasdair Strokosch early in the second period, although the latter's role as leader of the pack is unlikely to see him replaced.
Simon Danielli's spot on the wing could come under threat from either drop-goal hero Chris Paterson or possibly Thom Evans.
But the boss' biggest headache is at scrum-half after Rory Lawson came from nowhere to play a vital role in Scotland's first win over Australia for 27 years.
The Gloucester star was preparing to captain the A side against Tonga when he
woke up on Friday morning.
But an injury to Mike Blair saw him promoted to the Murrayfield bench and, incredibly, he found himself on the pitch after just 20 minutes on Saturday night when Chris Cusiter was forced off with a head knock.
Having named Cusiter and Blair co-captains, it would be an uncomfortable decision for Robinson to omit the latter from his 22 if both are fit.
But Lawson could rightly feel aggrieved if his sterling display does not even merit a place on the bench.
Robinson singled the 28-year-old out for praise on Saturday night, and his performance was also hailed by team-mate Rory Lamont.
"I'm sure when Rory came on, he wasn't expecting to come on so soon," Lamont told Press Association Sport.
"To lose someone like Chris - who's just a world-class player for us and was outstanding for us against Fiji the week before - was a big loss.
"But for someone like 'Rors' to come in and step in and perform the way he did is just exceptional."
Lamont believes the nature of Scotland's win, which saw them defend for their lives for almost the entire 80 minutes, bodes well for the future.
"If we can beat a team like Australia with so little possession, we can beat anyone," he said.
"I don't think there are many teams in the world that can have had so little possession and still managed to have ground out the victory.
"I think we're really lucky to have the players we have in Scotland.
"There's that attitude just to never give up.
"And while we don't have the same player numbers and we don't have the same sort of match-winning players that some other teams have, we've got a lot of guts."
Comments
biglenny81 says...
Scotland for RWC 11
Posted 10:11 24th November 2009