Lineen insists victory against Canada is vital

SEAN Lineen says Scotland will field the strongest side they can against Canada in Aberdeen this weekend to show due respect to the nation ranked just six places behind them, but also to ensure the team finish off the autumn matches with a win.

Yet, he acknowledged that so many players were still nursing knocks – seven were unable to take any part yesterday in a session switched from Myreside to Murrayfield – that he and Graham Steadman, the defence coach, "will have to pull our boots on."

Eight of the Scotland A side that beat Georgia on Friday night were called into an enlarged 32-man squad, as well as fit-again No8 Simon Taylor – who missed the last two Tests with a calf strain – and flanker Alasdair Strokosch, who returned to Gloucester and performed well in their win over Saracens on Sunday.

Lineen acknowledged that Georgia were not the force they might have been – French clubs failed to release 12 of their players – but he has praised the A team's ability to run in 11 tries.

With Dan Parks being considered for a return – his goal-kicking, previous to Saturday at least, perhaps being seen as crucial in Chris Paterson's injury-enforced absence and injury doubts over Phil Godman – there may be a Glasgow shift in the team with Kelly Brown and Max Evans in with a chance of making the 22-man squad, to be named today.

Powerful centre Rob Dewey and wingers Simon Webster, Nikki Walker and Mark Robertson have also been called up with Paterson and Thom Evans struggling to be fit, alongside forward duo Geoff Cross and Alastair Kellock.

Lineen admitted yesterday: "On Friday night, there were a lot of plusses. Selection is later on and we'll have to wait and see. It was never our intention to do that (experiment], to put a player in just to see what he was like, because that would be doing a disservice to Canada and the way the players are developing.

"Kieran Crowley is a very good coach and has them organised in defence. They are very physical and you have to respect them. It is 15 against 15 on a narrower pitch at Pittodrie. For us, it's important to take all the good stuff from the last two games and put it into practice against Canada. We have to win this game first and foremost."

The former Scotland centre, who has been helping Frank Hadden with the backs this month, will return to his full-time role as Glasgow's head coach after Saturday. Hadden will probably wish to keep him involved with the squad in the 2009 RBS Six Nations Championship, after the improved showing of Scotland's back-line, but Lineen insists that while his role will be "revisited" next week, his priority remained Glasgow.

He considers himself an "outsider" to the main unit of Hadden, Mike Brewer and Graham Steadman, but admits that he felt the disappointment of Saturday's 14-10 defeat as acutely as anyone involved. "Looking around that changing room there was genuine disappointment, frustration and a bit of anger," he said. "The boys know they can't keep on saying there is progress; they have to win.

"The amount of work these guys (coaches] are putting in, the detail and feedback they are giving is huge. I really feel for Frank and the way he was at the end of the game ... the last ten minutes when we just needed clear heads making good decisions.

"It was in the heat of the battle, but these decisions have to be made and we have to be clinical and get it right. They are putting real effort in and the players just need to get the little things right."



He was upbeat, however, in looking forward and believed that whatever happens this weekend in the world rankings situation – Scotland would end up in the second pot of World Cup seeds if they beat Canada and Argentina win in Ireland – there was enough in the recent defeats to point towards a brighter future than the run of two wins in the past ten Test matches might suggest.



"Frank is putting together a pretty strong squad and the guys are trying to do something special," he said. "One thing I was impressed with after the game was that the boys were hard on themselves; they are away from this underdog tag now and it's now about how far they want to go.

"Whatever pool Scotland end up in it's a World Cup, and instead of having one or two hard games you may have two or three hard games. In some ways, the All Black were underdone (in 2007] and so Scotland will deserve it even more if they have to take a harder route to the quarter-final.

"But this group of players will be at the next World Cup and I think there is something very good happening here, in terms of the coaches they have, the depth, ambition of the squad."