WHEN Sean Lineen was fashioning spaces in the Scottish midfield for such players as Scott Hastings, Iwan Tukalo and Tony Stanger, the international centre lived for tries.
His era was known for the boot of Craig Chalmers, yet 70 tries were scored in the 29 Test matches Lineen played in. He only scored twice himself, the first, ironically, against New Zealand – the land of his birth – in the first Test of 1990, and the
second in his final Test, against Australia two years later.
Neither game was won and the closest he came to beating the All Blacks was in the second Test in 1990, when Scotland lost agonisingly 21-18 in Auckland, despite outscoring their hosts 2-1 on tries.
Move forward 18 years and Lineen has been recalled by Frank Hadden to help sharpen the Scotland backs, seconded again from his position as Glasgow's head coach, and he is particularly excited at this opportunity to strike the holy grail of a first win over New Zealand.
"This is certainly one of the most exciting back-lines I have been involved with," he said of the Scots. "The way they've been training, the pace and the size of some of these guys is threatening.
"Mike Blair is developing into a world-class scrum-half and Phil Godman did very well in Argentina. He moves the ball around a bit quicker than Dan (Parks], but they are both good players. It's just Phil's time and this is a great opportunity for him, especially if we get the set-piece right.
"To attack well you need players who can make good decisions under real pressure and execute well, and with Thom Evans, Sean Lamont and Ben Cairns, for example, you have players who can challenge any defence. Graeme Morrison is injured, but I'm a huge fan of Nick De Luca's – he has tremendous individual skill and is developing as a team player – and we have the experience of Chris Paterson at the back.
"I see Chris as a 15 now, and I'm delighted with the way he's playing. He could not get into this Scotland team just on the strength of goal-kicking, but he is a great rugby player; a great runner, and he has the experience to use the talents around him, to play the kicking game and make the right decisions."
The number of line-breaks by the Scottish pro teams has been encouraging this season, but as with Scotland, who have scored just five tries in this year's seven Tests, finishing has remained a problem. Lineen is now hopeful of witnessing progress in that area over the next three weeks.
"We have definitely been creating much more at Glasgow and Edinburgh this season," he added. "The individual skills are improving, players are understanding things better, and we just have some individuals coming through with terrific ability, who are growing in confidence.
"There is a fine line between scoring and not scoring, especially at Test level. That's always been the case, now, when I played and right back. Of course, it's very difficult to break the All Blacks' defensive line, but with this team we will do it and then we have to have the confidence and belief, and also the concentration, to finish off. Then it gets exciting."
• There will be a minute's silence shortly before kick-off at Murrayfield tomorrow as part of Remembrance Day events this weekend. Both teams will also wear poppies on their tracksuits.
