Frank Hadden Scotland Quotations

It came down to experience, these two are the most experienced guys we could lay hands on. What we now have in Scotland is genuine competition for places.

Steve and I have discussed a formula so that the 'A' team will adapt the same shape of game as the Scotland side so, if someone is required to fly from Canada to South Africa, then they will be up to speed with what's going on.

I've long held the view that we have to best harness what we have by attacking in different ways. In the past, Scotland have had a restricted attacking strategy. They have not used all the possible areas of attack open to them. Wide, close, through the middle, through the boot - there are many options. You have to unsettle the opposition.

You only had to hear the players talking about Andy Murray's victory in the tennis earlier in the week to appreciate how much they believe that Scotland can compete on a world stage. All these things add up. We are where we are in the rankings because of the limited nature of our resources. But what's important is to believe that when we go out against the big guns of world rugby, such as England, that we have a genuine chance of winning. And we do.

One of the things that has given me confidence in the progress that Scotland have made in the professional era is that there was a time when a kicker lined up a kick and no-one knew what was going to happen.

I think Chris started twice in the November matches and Mike came on after 20 minutes in the New Zealand game and performed exceptionally well - he deserves the opportunity to start this time. At stand-off, the most pertinent factor is that Gordon has only trained twice with Scotland this season while Dan has been consistent throughout.

They are the first two people I want to speak to, ... I've arranged to meet Hugh on Monday and I want to see Steve as soon as possible. It's likely that the support team will come from among the professional coaches we've got in Scotland already.