When Scotland have been competitive in the last 14 months or so, it’s been built on two cornerstones, and they’ll have to do without them against the Wallabies tomorrow.
Props Alasdair Dickinson and WP Nel have not only given Scotland a firm platform in the scrummage, they’ve also been a steady source of points, allied to the unerring boot of Greig Laidlaw.
A series of scrum penalties forced by the duo were, on reflection, what took Scotland to an ace of beating Australia in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final despite a five-to-three try deficit. They were also the backbone of the wins over Italy and France in the Six Nations.
Both the veterans are fairly handy in the loose as well, and that’s not going to be missed on Saturday as youngsters Allan Dell and Zander Fagerson both excel there. However with just 15 minutes of international experience between them, Scotland are mightily short of veteran nous in the primary job of the front rower this weekend.
Dell is an athlete, but his scrummaging is untested at the top level. Fagerson can be a force in the setpiece, but as you’d expect from a 20-year-old he’s inconsistent. On successive weeks in Europe for Glasgow last month Zander dominated against Leicester and was dominated by Munster.
Once he gets all the smarts, Zander could be at 3 for Scotland for a decade; he’s that good. Dell might be as much as fourth choice at loosehead at present, but has the ability to seize a real chance here.
Scrummaging is where most northern hemisphere teams seek to attack the Wallabies, not to be attacked. The new guys have to get up to speed immediately.
