RUGBY:Scotland coach Frank Hadden is expected to include captain Jason White, fullback Rory Lamont and winger Simon Webster when he announces his team to face Ireland later today.
Webster and Lamont missed the 30-15 defeat to Wales due to injury but both returned to training in Murrayfield yesterday and while White sat out the session, his head injury is expected to clear by Saturday.
Chris Paterson and Jim Hamilton were also rested yesterday as they both featured in the English Premiership over the weekend, as did Geordan Murphy which may be an indication of Eddie O'Sullivan's starting XV that will be named at lunch time.
Simon Danielli and Graeme Morrison drop down to the Scottish A team to face Ireland A at McDiarmid Park, Perth on Friday while Ross Rennie, Alasdair Strokosch and Alastair Kellock are all in line for promotion to the senior 22.
France scrumhalf Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and prop Julien Brugnaut have been ruled out of Saturday's match against England at the Stade de France, coach Marc Lièvremont said yesterday.
"They will be replaced by Dimitri Yachvili and Jean-Baptiste Poux," he said. "Jean-Baptiste (Elissalde) pulled a right calf muscle. It's not a serious injury but we decided to rest him in agreement with his Toulouse club," team doctor Jean-Philippe Hager said.
Yachvili won the last of his 32 caps in the 2007 Six Nations but was omitted from the World Cup squad by former coach Bernard Laporte. "Dimitri was on our list. We wanted to see him. We didn't think it would be so early because he was injured in January when we named our first squad but he had a convincing game with Biarritz at the weekend," Lièvremont said.
Poux had been selected for the first game of the championship against Scotland but was forced to withdraw after pulling a muscle in his left thigh.
Shane Geraghty's hopes of an England recall have been dashed by injury. The London Irish back has returned to his club from England's training base in Bath for further investigation and assessment on a knee injury suffered during Irish's English Premiership victory over Leicester on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Ireland team to play Scotland in the AIB Club International this Friday has nine players winning first caps at this level. There are five in the backline - David McKethnie, Greg Stafford, Eric Moloney, Max Rantz McDonald and Ruairi Cushion - alongside Cork Constitution winger Cronan Healy and Dolphin outhalf Barry Keeshan, who were both in last year's squad that beat England Counties but lost away to Scotland, 18-11.
In the forwards, prop Martin Gatley, Shane O'Connor, John Ed O'Connor and Hugh Hogan will also get their first taste of this level. Lansdowne lock Alan Maher, who has been part of every club international team since 2006, captains the team.
"The opportunity to represent Irish rugby at any level is an honour which they are well aware of and is something that many of the players may never have had the chance to gain or to do again, so the club international is really becoming a goal for many of the players in the AIB League", said coach Brian Walsh.
SCOTLAND (squad v Ireland, Croke Park, Saturday): Backs: M Blair, C Cusiter, N De Luca, A Henderson, R Lamont, D Parks, C Paterson, H Southwell, N Walker, S Webster.
Forwards: J Barclay, K Brown, R Ford, J Hamilton, N Hines, A Hogg, A Jacobsen, A Kellock, G Kerr, S MacLeod, E Murray, R Rennie, A Strokosch, F Thomson, J White.
IRELAND (Club international v Scotland, Donnybrook, Friday): D McKethnie (Greystones); C Healy (Cork Constitution), G Stafford (Lansdowne), E Moloney (Dolphin), M Rantz McDonald (Clontarf); B Keeshan (Dolphin), R Cushion (Old Belvedere); M Gatley (Highfield), D Varley (Garryowen); S Shawe (Ballymena), A Maher (Lansdowne), S O'Connor (Cork Constitution), S Crawford (Clontarf), J E O'Connor (UL Bohemians); H Hogan (St Mary's). Replacements: D Murray (Cork Constitution), R Sweeney (St Mary's), M O'Connell (Cork Constitution), P Malone (Garryowen), S Cronin (UCC), A Kinsley (Garryowen), A Finn (Shannon)
