Edinburgh Rugby make up a third of Andy Robinson's starting Scotland team which will open the nation's Rugby World Cup 2011 Pool B campaign against Romania in Invercargill on Saturday (2am BST).
The noteworthy inclusion for the capital club is hooker Ross Ford who is set to make a half century of caps for his country (the 31st Scot to reach that landmark).
He joins living legend Chris Paterson (who will be play in an unprecedented fourth tournament for a Scot) and scrum-half Mike Blair while Allan Jacobsen and Geoff Cross complete an all -Edinburgh front-row.
The side, captained by second-row Alastair Kellock, includes eight players with previous Rugby World Cup experience, led by cap centurion Paterson.Elsewhere, in a team that shows eight changes from Scotland’s last international against Italy last month, congratulations are in order for hooker Ross Ford who will win his 50th cap on Saturday. Ford thus becomes the 31st Scot to reach that landmark.
Today’s selection also represented the perfect 32nd birthday present for wing Simon Danielli. On the last occasion Rugby World Cup was in the southern hemisphere, 2003, Danielli marked his first appearance in the competition by scoring a try against Japan in Townsville and the Scotland supporters who have given the squad such an enthusiastic and warm welcome in Invercargill will be looking for an encore eight years on.
Robinson told www.scottishrugby.org: “We have picked a strong side. There is competition for places and we could easily have picked another XV, as we did in the warm-up games.
“I’m delighted for Ross that he will win his 50th cap. He’s a great competitor who always works hard on the training pitch and is never content to ‘just get by’. His game is about always seeking to improve.
“As ever, our key objective this weekend is to win the game and thus get a foothold in the tournament.
“We really respect Romania, who are a young side who are developing together.
“For us, we’ve trained really well in the last three months and it’s now about going out and delivering.”
Scotland team to play Romania in Rugby World Cup Pool B on Saturday 10 September at Stadium Southland, Invercargill, kick-off 1pm local (2am BST)
15 Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) 105 caps, 22 tries, 89 conversions, 163 penalties, 3 drop-goals, 786 points
14 Max Evans (Castres) 20 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
13 Joe Ansbro (London Irish) 7 caps, 1 try, 5 points
12 Sean Lamont (Scarlets) 56 caps, 8 tries, 40 points
11 Simon Danielli (Ulster) 30 caps, 6 tries, 30 points
10 Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors) 8 caps, 2 conversions, 1 penalty, 1 drop-goal, 10 points
9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh) VICE-CAPTAIN 72 caps, 6tries, 30 points
1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh) 56 caps
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh) 49 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
3 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh) 6 caps
4 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 12 caps
5 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors) CAPTAIN 34 caps, 1 try, 5 points
6 Kelly Brown (Saracens) 46 caps, 4 tries, 20 points
7 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors) 29 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
8 Richie Vernon (Sale Sharks) 12 caps
Substitutes
16 Scott Lawson (Gloucester) 28 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
17 Alasdair Dickinson (Sale Sharks) 21 caps, 1 try, 5 points
18 Nathan Hines (Clermont Ferrand) 73 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
19 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh) 8 caps
20 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) 53 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
21 Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues) 62 caps, 4 tries, 15 conversions, 48 penalties, 14 drop-goals, 236 points
22 Rory Lamont (Toulon) 25 caps, 6 tries, 30 points
