1:09pm Wednesday 7th February 2007
Scotland head coach Frank Hadden has selected nine Edinburgh players in his team to face Wales at Murrayfield in the RBS 6 Nations Championship on Saturday.
Hadden has opted for three changes to the team beaten by England at Twickenham four days ago, with the Glasgow trio of Andrew Henderson, Dan Parks and Alastair Kellock all omitted.
In their place come inside centre Rob Dewey, stand-off Phil Godman and second-row forward Scott Murray, all Edinburgh players.
They join club-mates Hugo Southwell, Marcus Di Rollo, Scotland captain Chris Paterson, Dougie Hall, Simon Taylor and David Callam in the starting XV.
Dewey, 23, and Godman, 24, will be making their first Six Nations starts, while 31-year-old Murray wins an 81st cap.
The rest of the starting line-up is unchanged from the side which lost 42-20 to England at Twickenham four days ago, with Hadden resisting the temptation to include fit-again lock Nathan Hines, who is among the replacements.
Hadden said: "The advantages of the four stand-offs we have are that they are all totally different and allow the game to be played differently.
"We have picked a team to win this match and by changing the stand-off we will change the way in which we approach this game and play this game.
"Whereas we believed firmly that Dan Parks was the right man at Twickenham, we believe firmly that Phil Godman is the right man for this occasion."
Hadden used Dewey off the bench at Twickenham, and he responded with a late try to earn the chance to face Wales.
"Rob Dewey took his try well last week," said Hadden, "and I see him in competition with Andrew Henderson for inside centre.
"I would like to see Marcus Di Rollo face the same sort of competition at outside centre but Graeme Morrison is injured at present and Ben MacDougall is just returning from injury.
"Scott Murray is our most experienced forward and we have opted for that quality on this occasion."
Edinburgh prop Taylor will win a 50th cap, becoming the 21st Scottish player to achieve the feat, and Hadden said: "Any time you ask Simon to improve upon something he does so.
"Recently I have asked him to improve the quality of his verbal communication and leadership during matches and his response has been, typically, first-class."
Scotland team to play Wales in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at Murrayfield on Saturday, February 10: H Southwell (Edinburgh); S Lamont (Northampton), M Di Rollo (Edinburgh), R Dewey (Edinburgh), C Paterson (Edinburgh, captain); P Godman (Edinburgh), C Cusiter (Borders); G Kerr (Borders), D Hall (Edinburgh), E Murray (Glasgow), J Hamilton (Leicester), S Murray (Edinburgh), S Taylor (Edinburgh), D Callam (Edinburgh), K Brown (Borders).
Replacements: R Ford (Borders), A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), N Hines (Perpignan), A Hogg (Edinburgh), R Lawson (Gloucester), S Webster (Edinburgh), N Walker (Ospreys).
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