Scotland coach Frank Hadden’s decision to field an under-strength side for Sunday’s clash with the All Blacks has let down thousands of Murrayfield fans - and deprived his best players of the chance to pit their skills against the best team in the world.

Like all rugby enthusiasts, I had been whetting my lips at the prospect of seeing Hadden’s elite take on the very best, even if they were on a hiding to nothing. But the canny Scots chief is justifiably more concerned about beating Italy in a game that will decide who goes through to the quarter-final as Pool C runners-up. So much so that he has made 13 changes from the team that thumped Romania 42-0 last Tuesday.

New Zealand won’t be at full strength, either - they’ve got much bigger fish to fry than Scotland before this tournament is over. But the mismatch that would have been will now inevitably become a massacre of the tartan minnows

'It’s simply not fair that the fans who paid big money to watch their favourites take on THE favourites should be deprived of that opportunity'


Hadden, who has picked two new caps in the pack in loose-head prop Alasdair Dickinson and openside flanker John Barclay, doesn’t see it that way, though. In fact, he insists he’s picked a team to BEAT the All Blacks.

"As I've always said, the first criterion in selection is to pick a team to win the match," he says. "I got a letter from a guy in London who wanted reassurance that it was worth him coming up.

"I explained to him that I had spent over £400 myself, and that I've got two friends coming over from Australia and I would not be bringing them over under false pretences. The Scottish team that will take the park on Sunday will undoubtedly do their country proud. It is a very important match and it will be a fantastic World Cup occasion.

"It seems to me to make complete sense that if you have the choice of taking on the All Blacks with a tired team or a fresh team it's obvious what's required. And if you have a choice of taking on the Italians team with a tired team or a fresh team the solution is obvious as well."

Despite what Hadden says, I believe that if Scotland lose by 50 points on Sunday they’ll have done well. And to me it’s simply not fair that the fans who paid big money to watch their favourites take on THE favourites should be deprived of that opportunity.

I can see both sides of the argument - but equally I believe Hadden could have had his cake and eaten it. His players will have six days to recover after the All Blacks game - plenty of time to recharge their batteries and get over niggly injuries. World Cup winning captains Francois Pienaar and Martin Johnson think precisely the same as I do.

Johnson, who skippered England to glory four years ago, told ITV: ‘’Scotland are doing themselves no favours by playing their second team, though I understand why they are doing it. Of course you don’t want to get injured - but you can just as easily get injured in training.’’

And Pienaar, captain of South Africa’s victorious 1995 champions, added: ‘’I would have had my first team have a go, and with it build up confidence for the Italy game. They will have nearly a week to recover, after all.’’

What to Scotland fans think about it all, I wonder. Would you prefer to see the full might of Scottish rugby launched against the All Blacks - or is it more important to beat Italy next weekend? Comments below, please!

I watched with increasing disappointment as Ireland faded after a promising start against France to leave themselves with an Everest to climb to qualify for the last eight. Their 25-3 defeat by the hosts has more or less assured Bernard Laporte’s team of a place in the last eight - and now only an huge Irish victory against the Pumas can prevent the men in green crashing out of the tournament.

Two beautifully constructed second-half tries by Vincent Clerc in the space of 11 minutes - superbly set up by the boots of his Toulouse teammates Frederic Michalak and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde - put paid to Brian O’Driscoll and Co. And no one could dispute that the better side won.

But it’s the biggest mystery of the tournament how the team rated Europe’s best just a few months ago have plummeted in a few weeks to arguably the bottom of the pile. A good side doesn’t suddenly become a bad one - but only the most loyal Irishman would believe they can achieve the impossible by thrashing the team that beat France. And even then they won’t get through if Argentina scramble a losers’ bonus point.

The problem now for French coach Laporte’s is that if Argentina win the group - which looks inevitable unless Ireland beat them - France will come against the one team they wanted to avoid in the quarter-final - New Zealand.

But Laporte is not too bothered about that at this stage. "We didn't get the bonus point against Ireland and that's a pity,’’ he said, ’’but the important thing was to win and move ahead of the Irish - and that's what we did."

Bitterly disappointed Ireland skipper O'Driscoll conceded: "France made it very difficult for us. Our discipline was not the best. When they scored their first try, that killed us. We give credit to them, but we didn't have a good performance as well.''

He added: "We need a massive result against Argentina. I don't know exactly the combination of points we need but I'll think about it tomorrow. For the moment we're just disappointed."

Will Scotland and Ireland make it through to the last eight? Sportingo welcomes you comments - put them in an article if you like.