Six Nations - Evans brothers in Scotland side

Eurosport - Thu, 12 Feb 17:51:00 2009

Scotland coach Frank Hadden has named Thom and Max Evans in his starting XV for Saturday's Six Nations clash with France in Paris.

Max Evans - Glasgow - 0

The Glasgow brothers were controversially omitted from the starting line-up for Sunday's opening defeat to Wales, with Thom not even in the 22.

Max came off the bench to score Scotland's only try in the 26-13 loss and is one of five changes to the side comprehensively beaten by the Grand Slam champions.

Thom replaces Northampton's Sean Lamont on the left wing, with Max coming in for Edinburgh's Ben Cairns at outside centre - the first time the brothers have been in the same Scotland side.

Neither Lamont nor Cairns make the squad for the trip to Paris, with both paying the price for ineffective displays on Sunday.

The Evanses will become the 20th set of brothers to play together for Scotland, with Max making his first Six Nations start.

Elsewhere, Ulster wing Simon Danielli comes in for Simon Webster, who has failed to recover from a head injury.

The same applies to Geoff Cross, who is replaced by Alasdair Dickinson at prop with the Gloucester tighthead also making his first Six Nations start.

Like Lamont and Cairns, flanker Allister Hogg is dropped with Gloucester's Alasdair Strockosch starting at blindside.

Uncapped Glasgow prop Moray Low comes onto the bench - his first time in a Scotland 22 - with star tighthead Euan Murray still recovering from a rib injury.

Record points-scorer Chris Paterson also starts among the substitutes again, despite coming on to good effect against Wales.

And Edinburgh team-mate Nick de Luca is among the 22 after being omitted last week.

Jason White will continue at lock after making his first Test appearance in that position for more than six years on Sunday.

There is still no specialist second row on the bench, despite Nathan Hines looking doubtful for the rest of the tournament with a knee injury.

However, Glasgow lock Alastair Kellock will travel with the squad, as will his Warriors team-mate, fly-half Dan Parks.

Hadden said: "We know the supporters demand and deserve better than the performance against Wales and they are determined to do that against France.

"I'm happy with the quality of the side who are very aware of the need to perform better given the tough challenge that's facing us on Saturday."

Scotland: 15-Hugo Southwell, 14-Simon Danielli, 13-Max Evans, 12-Graeme Morrison, 11-Thom Evans (Glasgow), 10-Phil Godman, 9-Mike Blair (capt); 1-Allan Jacobsen, 2-Ross Ford, 3-Alasdair Dickinson, 4-Jason White, 5-Jim Hamilton, 6-Alasdair Strokosch, 7-John Barclay, 8-Simon Taylor.

Replacements: 15-Dougie Hall, 17-Moray Low, 18-Kelly Brown, 19-Scott Gray, 20-Chris Cusiter, 21-Chris Paterson, 22-Nick De Luca.

Sporting Life / Eurosport

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  1. why oh why does haddon think godman is better than­ patterson its not as if he can kick let alone tackle­ and even manage's to make blair look quick for­ christ's sake get a grip man and give us a chance!

    From jc297, on Fri 13 Feb 12:25AM
  2. a good set of forwards, can't understand leaving­ paterson on bench. his kicking is by far the best we­ got, and he was one of the few to try and show some­ passion last game...

    And why is Sean Lamont dropped???­ I'm sure evans brothers, paterson and lamont would­ be a set of backs to win the game.

    Is Hadden looking­ for a wooden spoon?

    From William, on Fri 13 Feb 12:24AM
  3. I like the attacking flair offered by the evans­ brothers but i fear the omission of patterson may prove­ to be a huge mistake. I'd like to see a scotland­ side with pace and some ball carrying ability. rory­ lamont fit at full back patterson and the two evans­ brothers would surely excite the murrayfield crowds and­ give us back some pride in our national side

    From templeton227, on Thu 12 Feb 12:15AM
  4. i have to wonder why danielli and southwell have been­ favoured over patterson? patterson showed great­ attacking intent in sundays game with the little time­ and ball he was given offering some more genuine pace­ and footwork not to mention the obvious benefit in­ terms of points kicking that he would bring to any side­ in the world

    From muzza1990, on Wed 11 Feb 6:31PM
  5. have to say tho chaps, surely a positive approach -­ lets try and score some tries! last week we tried to­ stop wales scoring - impossible. Age old rule - to win­ you need to score more times than them!

    From hblackburn, on Wed 11 Feb 5:55PM
  6. Also our best tackler stuck in the middle !

    From Alan, on Wed 11 Feb 4:41PM
  7. Once again, no Paterson in the starting 15!!! What­ does Haddon think he is doing?? Another pasting on the­ cards with this team!

    From John L, on Wed 11 Feb 3:17PM
  8. We have no aggression,no bad guys and manager too­ flaming QUIET

    From Alan, on Wed 11 Feb 2:34PM
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