MATT Scott must feel he is fast becoming an expert on selection hokey-cokey – out at the start of last season; in by the Six Nations but playing only one game as a replacement; in again for the start of the summer tour; out by the final match; out again for this week's training squad, now back in.
Scott owes his latest reprieve to a shoulder injury collected by Phil Burleigh, the Edinburgh centre who had taken his place, in the pre-season match against Sale on Friday, but is bound to see this as a chance to change Gregor Townsend's mind on his ability to play Test rugby.
The coach had explained that Scott needed to be more assertive in his on-field performances – go looking for the ball and demanding to be involved more than he was doing – so Scott will see his unexpected opening as a chance to show he has learned his lesson.
After 39 caps, the 26-year-old centre should be just about approaching his prime but has yet to convince successive national coaches that he can dominate Test matches in the way that he manages to achieve at Gloucester.
He is joined on the late journey to St Andrews, where the squad are training this week, by Murray McCallum, the 21-year-old Edinburgh prop, who has been called up after an impressive showing against Sale after Gordon Reid was concussed playing for London Irish, the club he joined in the summer. He is staying in London for treatment.
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