Scotland’s fractured build-up to the final viagogo Autumn test against the Wallabies on Saturday was further disrupted before Scott Johnson finally arrived at his starting line-up.
The Scots lost Tim Swinson, man of the match in the first of the November games against Japan, to the recurrence of a chest injury overnight and he will be replaced by Edinburgh’s Grant Gilchrist rather than the more experienced options of Al Kellock or Richie Gray.
Instead, the former Alloa and Stirling County lock is promoted from the bench where he was detailed to be as part of the overall plan for the three tests even before they began and Jonny Gray is called on to be the replacement, as Kellock is playing with Glasgow and Gray senior has returned to France.
Better news came for the Scots in the afternoon with Tommy Seymour passing running tests on his injured calf.
That allowed Johnson to name the same three-quarter-line as played against South Africa, with the exception that Duncan Weir will start at stand-off instead of Ruiradh Jackson.
Max Evans is on the bench due to his versatility but Mark Bennett, the uncapped Glasgow Warriors centre, is staying with the squad, probably in case of any reaction to Seymour in the next 36 hours.
Weir will win his eighth cap at just 22, but it may be the chance for the young Glasgow player to seize the problem role at 10 after Jackson’s inconsistent performances in the first two games.
“The injuries we’ve experienced with four of our frontline backs sidelined during this series Stuart Hogg, Tim Visser, Alex Dunbar and Matt Scott have meant that we’ve had to think long and hard about combinations and our bench this weekend,” said Johnson, with Weir revealing that he hadn’t been aware he was starting until the last minute.
“Most of the guys have been told the script before the week’s panned out, but this week it’s just because there’s been a few injuries in the backline,” said Weir, who played the final 20 minutes against South Africa.
“When I came on I was forcing it too much at times, but you need to do that at 28-0 down.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a defence quite as aggressive as that, the two centres especially flew out of the line and put the pressure on.
“We’ve done a lot of analysis on that, learned a lot on how to counteract it and even to turn it against them, which has been useful.”
Weir is aware he has to be the tactical fulcrum of the team but is looking forward to putting himself against two of his favourite players.
“I love to watch the Queensland Reds, I made sure I taped all their games in the summer because Quade Cooper and Will Genia play such an expansive game, it’s great fun to watch.
“They’ve both got the long pass so it’ll be interesting to see, our defence will have to be fully stretched.
“It’ll be a different Wallaby team because they’ve lost four guys in the last week but the same themes will come up. They played some outstanding stuff against Ireland and they are all talented players.”
For Weir, however, it’s all about what Scotland do, and what he can influence from the key role.
He said: “The decision-making has to be sharper than last week, but it’s still all about that. Sticking to the structure and also playing off the cuff as well at times.
Scotland team: Sean Maitland; Tommy Seymour, Nick De Luca, Duncan Taylor, Sean Lamont; Duncan Weir, Greig Laidlaw; Ryan Grant, Ross Ford, Moray Low; Grant Gilchrist, Jim Hamilton; Johnnie Beattie, Kelly Brown (Capt), David Denton. Replacements: Pat MacArthur, Alasdair Dickinson, Euan Murray, Jonny Gray, Kieran Low, Chris Cusiter, Ruaridh Jackson, Max Evans.