The Glasgow flanker John Barclay is the only uncapped player in Scotland's World Cup squad. The head coach, Frank Hadden, has opted to take 17 forwards and 13 backs to France next month.
Hadden chose an extra forward despite also selecting three scrum-halves. One of those, Chris Cusiter, is expected to recover from an ankle injury before the start of the tournament. The Lamont brothers, Sean and Rory, Chris Paterson and Simon Webster offer versatility farther out.
"The split between the backs and the forwards is not an uncommon one," said Hadden, whose side are in a group with New Zealand and Italy.
"It reflects how tough it's going to be, especially for the forwards playing so many games in such a close period of time, and also gives us a wee bit more flexibility within the backs.
"Overall this is a more mature group than we could have chosen two years ago. There's a fair amount of experience and a good balance between the power that was demonstrated in our win against Ireland last weekend as well as a bit of footballing ability. The squad has the ability to do something special at the World Cup and is the most competitive we could muster."
Hadden trimmed nine players from the training squad yesterday. The Saracens outhalf Gordon Ross was the biggest casualty after Paterson controlled last Saturday's victory at Murrayfield with some considerable comfort.
Brian Ashton is not enjoying a hassle-free World Cup build-up and cracks are already appearing in England's 30-man squad. An infected gnat bite has confined the elephant-sized Sale prop Andrew Sheridan to hospital, and the back problems niggling the scrumhalf Peter Richards have forced Ashton to amend his plans for Saturday's final warm-up match, against France in Marseille.
The head coach's intention was to field his strongest XV but he is now using the game as an opportunity to assess contenders for five key positions he suggests are still up for grabs. Andy Farrell, Dan Hipkiss, George Chuter, Steve Borthwick and Nick Easter are the quintet under the spotlight in the centres and at hooker, lock and number eight. Mike Catt, Jamie Noon, Mark Regan, Ben Kay and Lawrence Dallaglio will be the beneficiaries should their rivals fail to shine.
There is little doubt the 19-stone Sheridan will be in England's first-choice 22 - ahead of his weekend deputy, Perry Freshwater of Perpignan - when the time comes, but he is currently lying in a Bath hospital bed with a swollen lower right leg. He is expected to be released tomorrow, by which time management should have more clarity on Richards's long-term fitness.
The London Irish number nine has suffered a further recurrence of the back trouble that ruled him out of the squad for the Wales game and Sale's Richard Wigglesworth has again been summoned as cover.
England can replace Richards at any time but new squad members are not allowed to play for 48 hours following their call-up. It is in England's interests, therefore, to make a speedy decision and avoid the possibility of the 24-year-old Wigglesworth being tossed into a big game with minimal preparation.
That scenario is not particularly likely, though, with Shaun Perry expected to be Jonny Wilkinson's World Cup halfback partner, ahead of Andy Gomarsall. The Marseille selection also suggests Mark Cueto, Josh Lewsey and Jason Robinson will form the back three in the pivotal Pool A game with South Africa on September 14th, while Phil Vickery, Simon Shaw, Martin Corry and Tom Rees would now seem to be in pole position at tight-head and lock and on both flanks.
SCOTLAND SQUAD: Backs -Mike Blair, Chris Cusiter, Rob Dewey, Marcus Di Rollo, Andrew Henderson, Rory Lamont, Sean Lamont, Rory Lawson, Dan Parks, Chris Paterson, Hugo Southwell, Nikki Walker, Simon Webster. Forwards -John Barclay, Kelly Brown, Dave Callum, Ross Ford, Jim Hamilton, Nathan Hines, Allister Hogg, Allan Jacobsen, Gavin Kerr, Scott Lawson, Scott MacLeod, Euan Murray, Scott Murray, Craig Smith, Simon Taylor, Fergus Thomson, Jason White (captain).
ENGLAND(v France, Saturday): M Cueto; J Lewsey, D Hipkiss, A Farrell, J Robinson; J Wilkinson, S Perry; P Freshwater, G Chuter, P Vickery (capt); S Shaw, S Borthwick; M Corry, T Rees, N Easter. Replacements: L Mears, M Stevens, J Worsley, L Dallaglio, A Gomarsall, O Barkley, P Sackey.
