Scotland will “walk towards the pressure” of their crunch RBS 6 Nations match against Italy as Scott Johnson made just two changes from the team that lost at Twickenham on Saturday.
The interim head coach will give a first start to Rob Harley, the Glasgow back rower, and recalls former skipper Ross Ford to hooker, but revealed that he always planned to keep roughly the same side for the first two matches of the 2013 championship dependent on injury.
That means a reprieve for some of Saturday’s team after “an honesty call within the camp” on analysis of the failures of Twickenham, specifically the breakdown and tackle area where Harley is expected to tip the balance back after the Scots were routed there by the rampant English.
Johnson believes Scotland are still in the championship Italy is the first of three successive home games over five weeks and the best time to take stock is after the Azzuri, brimming with confidence after their defeat of France in Rome, have visited.
“I wanted consistency we planned to go this way whatever Italy’s result was,” he said. “We weren’t surprised by it, the world order in rugby is changing and they’re a very good side.
“We had a plan going in for the first couple of weeks, because it’s too much of a quick turnaround to chop and change people, although we knew we’d lose a couple through injury.
“Now we’ve got a run of two weeks with a clear-cut guide of the form and the future of others.
“I’m not threatening that places are on the line this week what I’m saying is we’re in the tournament if we win. There’s only going to be one team on four points after the weekend.
“We’ve now got a couple of home games so if we get them right we’re in the tournament. After the weekend we might review it slightly different, depending on results and performances, they’re what is key now.”
Thus Johnson looked closely at Ruaridh Jackson’s disappointing performance at Twickenham and opted to give the Glasgow fly-half another go.
“There’s got to be a bit of consistency and Jacko’s form was pretty good coming in,” Johnson added. “Duncan Weir and Tom Heathcote haven’t played a lot of rugby, so it’s balancing that off too.
“We’ve got to find out if he (Jackson) can do it, if he can hold the fort. But I’m not going to put the pressure on the kid and just label it as that.
“I want to see some growth. His form warranted his selection. He’s not totally happy with his performance but nor are other people who went on that pitch. The fact is there’s something in him, and we’ve got to find out.”
Johnson’s point is that a win over Italy on Saturday is not much good on its own.
“Do we want to win, what do you think?” he asked. “It would be something we’d love, but at the end of the day we want it to be a constant, the team winning.
“We can go on talking about an isolated win here or there, but we don’t want to be doing that. The win would be great, no doubt, and it would be good for momentum, but long-term we’ve still got to get areas of our game right.
“Italy will target this game, I’m sure they targeted their first one. There will be pressure, but we intend to walk towards it we’re not running away.”
The only change to the bench is dependent on Dougie Hall’s knee knock, which could see Pat McArthur in line for his first cap.
Peter Horne is still not ready due to his thumb injury, while Grant Gilchrist and members of the A team who beat England Saxons were considered but left out.
For more build-up to the match, see Wednesday’s Courier or try our new digital edition.