De Luca recalled for Murrayfield clash
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:40
Making changes: Scotland boss Andy Robinson.
Scotland have recalled centre Nick de Luca for this weekend's Six Nations clash against England at Murrayfield as they look to avoid a tournament whitewash by beating their oldest foes.
Edinburgh's 26-year-old Nick De Luca, will start at outside centre. He will be winning his 16th cap, and will be making his first start for Scotland since the victory over Canada at Pittodrie in 2008.
Max Evans moves to the left wing with Simon Danielli switching to the bench.
Scrumhalf Mike Blair and prop Alasdair Dickinson have been ruled out through concussion sustained in their weekend club matches, while Dickinson's Gloucester teammate, Alasdair Strokosch has also been sidelined - with the recurrence of an ankle injury.
Rory Lawson, who played a major part in Scotland's win against Australia last autumn, Geoff Cross and Alan MacDonald are thus listed on the bench.
Andy Robinson urged his side to be ruthless and finish off their hard work.
"The team has played some good rugby and we have been creating chances. We just need to take that next step and finish off a game," he said.
"Max has been our most potent attacker and we also want to see Nick and the qualities that he can bring to this game."
Saturday's Calcutta Cup match will be the first time Scotland's former England coach Andy Robinson has coached against his native country.
Team:
Scotland: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nick de Luca, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Max Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter (captain), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Simon Danielli
Date: Saturday, March 13
Kick-off:
17.00 GMT
Venue: Murrayfield
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
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