Scotland begin their June international series with a Test against Canada at the Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday, writes Shaun Goosen.
Canada v Scotland
9 June 04h00
Commonwealth Stadium
To Win (80 mins)
Canada 7/1
Draw 50/1
Scotland 1/16
With the blooding of new players the priority for Gregor Townsend and with a host of regular starters missing, it’s imperative that the Scots achieved positive results this month.
In the absence of regular skipper John Barclay, as well as Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw, and Jonny Gray, the Brave Hearts will be vastly inexperienced heading into their end of season foray. The six new caps in the touring party – Lewis Carmichael, Jamie Ritchie, Matt Fagerson, George Horne, Adam Hastings, and James Lang – are all expected to be given opportunities this month to prove their worth for the fifth-ranked Scots ahead of their arrival in Japan next year. All will be eager to perform.
Of all the objectives Townsend and his coaching staff will look to complete this June, perhaps the most important will be finding a successor to the 25-year-old Russell at flyhalf. Flyhalf stocks are pretty bare in Scotland at present, and the onus will fall on Adam Hastings, Pete Horne, James Lang to take ownership of the number 10 shirt as Russell embarks on his end of season rest period.
With Tests against the United States and Argentina to follow, now is the perfect time for Townsend to test out his depth. Canada currently languishes in 21st on the World Rugby rankings and shouldn’t pose the Scots too many problems this weekend.
They have lost four of their last six outings in 2018 on their way to finishing fourth in the Americas Rugby Championship, consisting of the United States, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil and an Argentina XV. They will be hard-pressed to turn those results around this weekend.
Stuart Hogg, Alex Dunbar, and Ali Price will set the example amongst the Scottish backs in what is expected to be wet conditions, while Richie Gray will gather the bruises as they look to dominate proceedings up front. Considering the quality of opposition, fatigue shouldn’t factor in too much for the Celts as they march on to secure a fourth win this season.
Verdict: Scotland 1/16
Despite missing some very influential footballers, Scotland should ease to a win of about 25-points or more.
Written by Shaun Goosen for Hollywoodbets
