Centre Steven Shingler is the surprise inclusion as one of six new faces in Scotland’s squad for the opening two matches of the 2012 RBS 6 Nations.
Despite being born in Swansea and playing for Wales Under-20s, Shingler qualifies for Scotland through his mother Jeanette and his impressive form for English side London Irish has prompted Andy Robinson to include him in the 36-man squad.
Also in line to win their first caps are Edinburgh winger Lee Jones, Glasgow trio Stuart Hogg, Duncan Weir and Rob Harley along with Sale Sharks’ loose forward Fraser McKenzie.
While Chris Paterson and Nathan Hines have retired from international duty, the remainder of Scotland’s World Cup squad retain their places.
There is no room however for Wasps full-back Hugo Southwell or Glasgow back-rower Johnnie Beattie, who was part of the effective Killer B’s back-row combination in the 2010 Championship.
The back-row will be one of a number of selection dilemmas facing Robinson with the question of who will start in the No.10 shirt probably the most intriguing.
Cardiff veteran Dan Parks and Glasgow Warriors’ Ruaridh Jackson shared the fly-half berth in 2011 but the impressive form of Edinburgh’s Greig Laidlaw, who also plays at scrum-half, and Duncan Weir who is the RaboDirect PRO12’s leading points scorer will give Robinson plenty of food for thought.
While 15 of the players selected are based outside Scotland, Robinson remains encouraged by the healthy representation of up-and-coming players from Edinburgh and Glasgow.
He said: “I am pleased to reflect on the winning displays we have seen from both Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors over the last two months and the contribution a number of our uncapped players have made to them.
“I think what’s also encouraging is that a number of players who have forced their way into contention in that period and who have not made the squad this time, are really knocking on the door and that competition for places can only raise our standards, so this Scotland squad can be very much a work in progress over the coming months.
“We said after the Rugby World Cup that the challenge the Scotland squad must confront is to get on with the business of winning international rugby matches. Potential counts for nothing if you don’t deliver results.”
Scotland squad for the 2012 RBS 6 Nations opening two matches:
Backs: Joe Ansbro (London Irish), Mike Blair (Edinburgh Rugby), Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Rugby), Max Evans (Castres), Stuart Hogg, Ruaridh Jackson (both Glasgow Warriors), Lee Jones, Greig Laidlaw (both Edinburgh Rugby), Rory Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Scarlets), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues), Steven Shingler (London Irish) and Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors).
Forwards: John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), Kelly Brown (Saracens), Geoff Cross, David Denton (both Edinburgh Rugby), Alasdair Dickinson (Sale Sharks), Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby), Richie Gray, Dougie Hall (both Glasgow Warriors), Jim Hamilton (Gloucester), Robert Harley (Glasgow Warriors), Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Rugby), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Lawson (Gloucester), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), Fraser McKenzie (Sale Sharks), Euan Murray (Newcastle Falcons), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby), Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester) and Richie Vernon (Sale Sharks).
Steven Shingler is currently the centre of controversy, its about whether he can represent Scotland as Wales claim he is one of theirs. He played under 20 for Wales but has said he did not sign an agreement commiting to Wales rugby – at the moment the IRB have been called to investigate. There is apparently an interview on another website claiming Shingler said he wished to play for Wales when the interview was done in November. Never heard of him before but he must be fairly good if at 20 he is doing well for London Irish and has been drawn to the senior squad by Robinson. The list has Joe Ansbro as playing for London Irish too so maybe Robinson would like them to continue their partnership. Will have to wait and see what the IRB say.
Ruaridh Jackson and Moray Low both got injured playing for Glasgow yesterday, Ruaridh damaged hamstring and Moray a knee don’t know yet how long or if they will be out of action, ouch.
@ Bullscot:Please keep us posted on the Shingler saga. Interesting that he says he signed nothing but Wales say that they told the players that if they played for the U20 side. that that would mean that they would only be legible to play for Wales. The IRB ruling will be very interesting.
Ok JFK will try post any news here about this one. The things is as far as I know you can play under 20 rugby for one country and then still play seniors for another so can Wales really just tell players if they played u20 for them then they were tied to Wales, is my understanding correct? Thing that not sure about is if he really said in an interview in November that he wants to play for Wales then why has he now expressed a desire to play for Scotland. I am giving him the benefit of doubt at the moment but if someone really said that then do you want him playing for you. Wales are well covered at centre so don’t think Shingler would have been chosen any time soon for them, although you never know with injuries…
Another interesting thing for me is that the London Irish site speaks about Shingler as a flyhalf, I guess this was written early in the season which was a number of months ago, but he seems to have been used at centre. Apparently Shingler came from Llanelli where he scored lots of points so must be a guy with a lot of potential so much so that he was snapped up by London Irish into their senior squad at 19. We have some good youngsters coming through at flyhalf in Duncan Weir and Ruaridh Jackson but at the moment wouldn’t say either of them are top class international level yet so maybe Shingler could end up being a wild card for flyhalf berth if cleared to play, especially as it seems Jackson has pulled a hamstring and may miss some of the start of the 6 nations.
3@ Just For Kicks:
Still no news on the outcome of this one yet, will post the complicated Welsh argument for the player to stay theirs later on, but basically as far as I can see it after their World cup performance they are the blue eyed boys at the moment so will probably find in their favour.
Just for Kicks beginning to sound like a stuck record now but have still not heard what the IRB are doing about the Shingler saga but from what I understand the Welsh arguement is that they consider their U20 side to have the same status as senior representative team as they don’t have what many other countries call a senior ‘A’ team like for example England Saxons, however Scotland have pointed to two Welsh players who played for Wales U20r in 2010 that are apparently available to play for Ireland if chosen, the Welsh counter arguement is that is different as Shinlger played in 2011 against France U20 and because for France this is the same as an ‘A’ team the status of this game means that Shingler has played for Wales at a representative level and so can’t play for another international side. Seems to me like they want to have their cake and eat it, which they probably will. Anyway going to be an interesting day with England due to announce a 32 man squad for the 6 nations, sounds like there are going to be a lot of new players, with many of the old guard retired or dropped, is this the start of better days for English rugby, if they can get their boardroom and coaching issues sorted then I think so, in a few years they could be very potent!
@ Bullscot:That is how I read it too, with the addition that Wales specifically informed the players of this prior to the first match of the U20 match against France. This for me is where the ruling will become interesting from the IRB and will will either set precedent, or will use the previous ruling stating the ‘A’ team status is not applicable as it was an U20 series.
@ Just For Kicks:Will be interesting to hear GBS’s views on this from a legal aspect
9 @ Just For Kicks:
I don’t have much of a legal perspective on this, because I don’t know much about the Shingler saga at all…
The only thing I do know is that there is a battle of words between Wales & Scotland over who he will play for.
In addition, one has to look where the IRB previously drew the line, and the exact wording they used PLUS their Official Regulations to member Nations, about the issue.
Only then can one form an informed Legal picture and opinion.
What is my PERSONAL opinion?
To my mind they should keep it simple and state that only once you have played representative rugby (even if it’s only for seconds or minutes) for your Country’s TOP Senior side, in a game (Test or against a Barbarians side or a Mid-week Touring game) – not just selected in a Touring squad or training with the squad, then you don’t qualify to play for another Nation. To expand it down to A-sides, age-group sides is stretching it a bit.
10@ grootblousmile:I agree 100%
11 @ Just For Kicks:
Marvelous, you should agree with me more regularly, I’ll make you look like you really know your rugby…. and teach you some crucial things, like supporting the Bulls…
Hahaha
@ grootblousmile:Would love to be able to say that one day I will support the Bulls, but it’s just not in my constitution!!!!. But respect, that is something I will always give for good players, good teams and good rugby, and Hougy is one of those.
I am also going to comment on the Hougaard thread on this thread, GBS, I don’t know what is happening out in the ether, but every time I try to click onto the Hougie thread, or the thread I posted 2 days ago – Rassie, I keep getting kicked out, and can’t comment. When I try to log in on those two pages only, it won’t. It’s just those 2 pages, thus this comment should be on the Hougie page.
I think Hougaard has more precocious talent than FdP. Time will tell, but this lad excites me a lot, and can’t wait to see him given an extended run at 9.
By the way, are you putting up a thread for the cricket?
@ grootblousmile:Actually, now it is all pages, except this one and the home page that are kicking me out.
15 @ Just For Kicks:
Strange… must be an Apple thing… hehehe
Let me check the different Browsers quickly….
16 @ grootblousmile:
All seems fine with the different browsers.
We need to do 3 things.
1. Mail me YOUR password, I’ll then TEST your Login with 4 different Browsers. then after that…
2. Clear your Internet Cache
3. Restart your Appletjie…
Mail on@ grootblousmile:Password on way, cache cleared have restarted and rebooted already
18 @ Just For Kicks:
Your Username & Password (Login Particulars) test 100% on all the different browsers, also received your Mail to say that clearing your Internet Cache seemed to do the trick, seeing as you can now get into ALL Pages OK.
Just do what I suggested regarding the nomobile command as well whilst being logged out, then go back to the Home Page and Login as normal.
Let me know… OK?
Have noted there is also a tweet message here about the Shingler controversy in that the IRB have finally come up with a statement which basically means he cannot play for Scotland as it seems countries have the right to chop and change their minds about which team they want to designate as their ‘next representative’ team besides the first senior team. As posted earlier thought this would go Wales way anyway even though was not fully aware of all the rules and regulations so no surprise really, question is will or when will Wales pick him to play for them, surely only if they have quite a few injuries??? Where does this leave Shingler in terms of how his potential future Welsh team mates may view him? This seemed to be a completely out of the blue selection so wonder if Andy and whoever else selects Scotland squads were just taking a bit of a chance to see if they would get away with it, surely they must have been up to speed with the rules as the IRB has stated them.
@ Bullscot:Yhanks for that, yup, one wonders if he has, unwittingly, dug a bit of a hole for himself. I hope not
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