By Steve Scott, rugby correspondent

UNCAPPED EDINBURGH flanker Ross Rennie will be on the bench for Scotland at Croke Park in Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash against Ireland as fellow 21-year-old John Barclay was ruled out yesterday.

Edinburgh captain Ally Hogg will take the number seven shirt with Kelly Brown retained at eight after the Scottish management team ruled that the nine stitches on the third finger of Barclay’s right hand were restricting his activity.

The 21-year-old Glasgow Warriors open-side suffered the cut in a bizarre incident when having a meal with friends. He was resting a glass on a chair when a fellow diner sat on it, smashing the glass and cutting his finger from the tip to the joint.

“It’s bad luck for John,” said Scotland coach Frank Hadden, who gave Barclay a last chance at yesterday morning’s training session before making the final decision.

“The difficulty is that we could probably get by with an injury like that to a player who didn’t require to use his hands as often as John does for handling, tackling and passing in the role he has in the team,” added the coach.

Rennie, a graduate of Scotland age-grade, sevens and A sides, makes his first appearance in a senior game-day squad on the bench having made a whirlwind start to his professional career with a flurry of man-of-the match performances for Edinburgh.

Hadden said, “It’s a golden opportunity for Ross who has consistently put his hand up and demanded to be considered by the quality of his performances.”

Hogg, who showed up well when replacing Jason White in the defeat in Cardiff for an hour two weeks ago, returns to the openside position he occupied throughout the successful 2006 season.

Brown, who had a good game in Cardiff at number eight, retains that jersey for some much-needed continuity with Alasdair Strokosch making his first Six Nations start in place of the concussed White at blindside.

For the former East Kilbride and Edinburgh flanker it’s a further chance to show how much his star is on the rise having taken what many believed to be a risk in leaving the capital side in the summer to go to Gloucester.

“Stroke” was only on a one-year contract with the Cherry and Whites but such was his impact for the current Guinness Premiership leaders that he was given a two-year extension within 10 weeks of his debut and was voted the GP’s Player of the Month for December.

His performances also brought him to the attention of the Scottish management team and forwards coach George Graham believes that the former Scottish karate internationalist was putting significant pressure on White for the number six shirt even without the captain’s head knock.

“It’s something I’ve been working towards for a long time, but I didn’t expect it so soon,” he admitted.

“Going to Gloucester was a challenge, but that was the attraction because I wanted to see what I could do if I pushed myself more and going there gave me that opportunity.

“It was a risk and a gamble in terms of playing for my country, but obviously it has paid off pretty well, and it was good for me that I fitted in pretty well there and that they played a more open game and wanted a more athletic guy.

“I enjoy the confrontational nature of the game in England, and that’s been good for me because it’s my favourite part of the game, really.”

Strokosch also believes he was fortunate not to make the Scotland Rugby World Cup squad because it allowed him to establish himself at Gloucester.

“Ali Dickinson joined at the same time as me but went to the World Cup and he’s only now getting himself established while I had a head start, so in a way missing out on France, though it was a big dis- appointment, worked out well for me long term.”

He is conscious that he is replacing White, a player who has developed iconic status amongst the squad.

“I’m not coming in to replace Jason, or to make up for his absence, I want to go and play the way I do.

“He’s a great player and leader and someone I’ve looked up to and modelled myself on, but I have to concentrate on what I do best.”

Revised Scotland team: H Southwell (Edinburgh); R Lamont (Sale), S Webster (Edinburgh), A Henderson (Glasgow), N Walker (Ospreys); C Paterson (Gloucester), M Blair (Edinburgh, capt); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton); N Hines (Perpignan), S MacLeod (Llanelli); A Strokosch (Gloucester), A Hogg (Edinburgh), K Brown (Glasgow). Replacements— F Thomson (Glasgow), G Kerr (Edinburgh), J Hamilton (Leicester), R Rennie (Edinburgh), C Cusiter (Perpignan), D Parks (Glasgow), N De Luca (Edinburgh).