Friday, November 23, 2012

Robinson rings changes for Tonga

Scotland head coach Andy Robinson has named a strong side to take on Tonga on Saturday but has made five changes from the side who went down to South Africa last weekend.
The Scots will be looking to take the positives from their 21-10 defeat to the Springboks at Murrayfield ahead of their clash with the Tongans at Pittodrie.
One of those positives was scrum-half Henry Pyrgos who has been rewarded for his try against South Africa by Robinson with a starting place against the Pacific Islanders.
Hooker Scott Lawson will also make his first start for his country, whilst Max Evans, Alastair Kellock and Alasdair Strokosch return to the starting XV.
Thankfully for the Scots, lock Richie Gray has recovered from a mild concussion and will add his bulk and talent to the pack once again this weekend.
Robinson has admitted he was disappointed his side could not get a result against the Springboks, despite a promising second-half performance.
The former England coach knows his side must win against the Tongans in Aberdeen this weekend, to leave Scotland’s Autumn International Series on a high ahead of the Six Nations.
Robinson said: "We will not be among the top eight seeds for the 2015 Rugby World Cup draw, so this weekend I'm looking at giving a number of players an opportunity to put their hand up for selection for next year.
"This weekend we have to put together an 80-minutes performance and build on the positive parts of our games that we showed in the last 30 minutes against South Africa and the second half against New Zealand."

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