Scotland's attempt to save their Six Nations season – and possibly the job of their head coach – may be played out against England at Twickenham on Saturday without Mike Blair, their captain and first-choice scrum-half.
The injured from last weekend's defeat by Ireland were paraded before the team doctor today, with Blair still suffering from a back spasm, wing Thom Evans nursing a damaged shoulder and Alasdair Strokosch troubled by a neck injury.
Of the three, Dr James Robson seemed most certain about Strokosch, the Gloucester flanker, saying he would be allowed to resume training. Blair "is improving. He had a comfortable night's sleep and is up and mobile. He will be subject to further review tomorrow with a view to resuming running, hopefully on Wednesday".
Evans will also be reviewed tomorrow and, after yet another poor Six Nations, head coach Frank Hadden will want all the firepower he can muster for the Calcutta Cup match. After four wins in the past 15 Tests – against Italy, Canada, Argentina and England – and six victories in 19 Six Nations games spanning four seasons, Hadden's job seemed to be in danger even before one of his senior players said yesterday that the championship would be "a disaster" should Scotland not win at Twickenham – something they have failed to do for 26 years.
"I think if we're going to get any kind of credit, any slight positives out of the Six Nations, then we need to go there and win," said the 26-year-old second-row Jim Hamilton. "To be honest, how many people are going to go there and expect us to win? But we're going to go there, put our bodies on the line and just hope that something comes off. We need to win, otherwise it's going to be a disaster, the Six Nations."
Two years ago the Scottish Rugby Union said Hadden had to win two Six Nations matches each season. Hamilton said he did not know of such a target, but that Scotland should aim higher anyway. "I want to be in a team that is competing with the best teams in the Six Nations and hopefully the best teams in the world," he said. "We're going out in every game to win, not just to win one, two games a championship."
Hadden has said repeatedly that his current squad is the strongest of his four years in charge, but he failed to make the SRU's target last year – he was saved by a win over England at Murrayfield – and after promising much in the autumn they have beaten only Italy this tournament.
