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Godman Recall Sparks Capital Gains

Thu 12 Jun, 05:10 PM


Scotland boss Frank Hadden has loaded his team with Edinburgh players for Saturday's must-win Test against Argentina to give recalled stand-off Phil Godman every chance of making a killer contribution.

The capital club provide 10 players for Hadden's starting XV, including new recruit Chris Paterson who is moved from full-back to the right wing following last weekend's 21-15 defeat in Rosario.

Hugo Southwell, Simon Webster and Phil Godman are the three Edinburgh players called into the side, with Glasgow Warriors open-side flanker John Barclay joining them as Hadden makes four personnel changes.

According to Hadden, who has Edinburgh coach Andy Robinson working with him in Argentina, the choice of Godman ahead of Glasgow stand-off Dan Parks was one the coaching team were obliged to make.

"The key change is the stand-off Phil Godman," said Hadden.

"He has been playing consistently well for some time now and that is the most important selection factor as far I am concerned.

"He has been playing at his best, putting pressure to have this opportunity.

"As he has been selected it makes a lot of sense to surround him with familiar faces to give him the opportunity to perform as well as he possibly can."

Hadden believes Barclay also has a key contribution to make, with the contact areas having been a weak point in last weekend's performance.

Barclay comes in for Johnnie Beattie, who drops out of the 22-man squad, and Hadden is optimistic the change will pay off.

"We believe that the breakdown was an area of concern from last week and that is reflected in John Barclay's inclusion," said Hadden.

"We expect him to do what he normally does extremely well and help us to be more effective in that area."

With Paterson switched to the wing, Southwell comes in at number 15.

"It is important to use Chris' flexibility to find the right balance," said Hadden.

"On this occasion we all agreed he should play as a wing. Besides, Hugo is a very good full-back."

Hadden also confirmed that last week's debutant centre Ben Cairns and lock Matt Mustchin would each win their second caps in Buenos Aires.

Simon Webster replaces Thom Evans, who also won a first cap last week, on the left wing.

Hadden is expecting another strong performance from inside centre Graeme Morrison, who has impressed the coach since earning an international recall during the RBS 6 Nations campaign.

"Morrison is playing well and we are delighted with the progress he made," said Hadden.

"After the game (last week) he was disappointed with a couple of turnovers but it wasn't as much his fault as the fault of the supporting players."

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