Scotland head coach Andy Robinson has urged his players to take the opportunity to seize a place in his World Cup squad.
Italy clash will be last opportunity to press a claim
Scotland head coach Andy Robinson has urged his players to take the opportunity to seize a place in his World Cup squad.
The Scots face Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday in their final World Cup warm-up ahead of Robinson naming his 30-man squad on Monday.
Robinson has lived up to his promise of offering chances, with 14 changes to the team which beat Ireland on August 6.
The head coach now hopes the wholesale changes can encourage his charges to battle for the starting berths for the first World Cup Pool B fixture, the September 10 clash with Romania in Invercargill.
Robinson said: "It was to give people an opportunity to put their hand up for the World Cup and get into the starting XV - not just about getting in the 30-man squad.
"I rested a number of players before the Ireland match to look at some combinations and now a number of those players - Kelly Brown, Nathan Hines, John Barclay and Al Kellock - come into the starting line-up."
Brown, Hines, Barclay and Kellock, who returns as captain after holding the role throughout the RBS 6 Nations campaign, are near certainties to travel to New Zealand as four of the most accomplished and experienced members of the squad.
Kellock was the only member of the group involved in the 10-6 win over Ireland, the second row making a cameo appearance off the bench.
Robinson was satisfied with the team's performance against Ireland as he assessed each individual.
Pleased
He said: "I was pleased with the way the team played, the shape that we had.
"For us not to concede a try was really pleasing, but to keep playing for 80 minutes as well and for Joe Ansbro to score from first-phase play at the end was really pleasing."
Prior to the warm-up matches and the injury to Hugo Southwell, Robinson said he knew 25 of the players who would be travelling to New Zealand.
Presuming the experienced Southwell, who has since been ruled out by a knee injury, was among them, it appears there are six places remaining, with 14 players vying for those spots.
Glasgow duo Ryan Grant and Rob Harley, who are both uncapped, and Ben Cairns are the only members of the 38-man squad who will not be involved in a warm-up Test, assuming there are no injuries between now and Saturday.
All 38 players were available for selection for Saturday's match, with Mike Blair having recovered from an ankle injury to start and fellow scrum-half Chris Cusiter returning on the bench following a calf problem.
Euan Murray has been named on the bench following an Achilles problem, with Moray Low starting at tighthead prop in a front row also comprising Scott Lawson and Alasdair Dickinson.
