Scotland will be without their captain John Leslie when they play England in the Six Nations championship at Murrayfield on Sunday. New Zealand-born Leslie was withdrawn from the squad following medical assessments by both the Scottish Rugby Football Union and his club side Newcastle Falcons. Both said there was still a problem with his left ankle, which he damaged in the World Cup against South Africa last October. Edinburgh Reivers' centre Graham Shiel, who was set to skipper the 'A' team at Goldenacre on Saturday, has been drafted into the main squad to replace Leslie.
The Scots have also had to make a further change to their squad already blighted by the ineligibility ruling of David Hilton. Hooker Gordon Bulloch aggravated a shoulder injury in a club match on Sunday and has been replaced by his uncapped Glasgow Caledonians colleague Gavin Scott as cover for Steve Brotherstone. Bulloch could have expected to start the game, after apparently recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered in the 44-20 defeat by Ireland in Dublin. Ironically, he would also have been a contender to skipper the side in Leslie's absence. That honour is now likely to be handed to scrum-half Andy Nicol.
Champions Scotland have lost all four Six Nations matches this season while England have won four out of four.
Wasps winger Kenny Logan is back in the international reckoning after being named in the 'A' side. Logan was axed by national coach Ian McGeechan for the trip to Wales a fortnight ago and omitted from the second string as he had nothing else to prove. However, after expressing a desire to play at 'A' team level, Scotland team manager Rob Flockhart confirmed that the Stirling-born player will start Saturday's game. Flockhart admitted that today's withdrawal of John Leslie and Gordon Bulloch from the squad for Sunday's Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield meant some late changes for the 'A' team.
Meanwhile SRU bosses must go through five more days of hell before discovering the total punishment for theHilton 'grannygate' farce. The SRU were told yesterday that Hilton will not be allowed to play for Scotland again unless he becomes eligible under the three-year residency rule. However that verdict was not the only one handed down by the International Rugby Board and the game's governing body has still to decide whether further punishment is due after the SRU failed to check Hilton's eligibility during his 41-cap career.
