Border Telegraph | Sport | Bates backing Scotland

Friday, 5th December, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 25th January, 2006 10:02

Bates backing Scotland

By Border Telegraph Sport

REIVERS coach Steve Bates is putting his weight behind Scotland even if means taking a depleted Borders side to Leinster this Friday night.

Bates has eight players in Scotland coach Frank Hadden’s pool for training ahead off the final selection for the opening 6 Nations against France a week on Sunday at Murrayfield.

“If we have players in the final 22 for Scotland, then they are not available for us next weekend (at Leinster), that’s fair enough. We have to do everything we possibly can to ensure that the national team’s gets the best opportunity. We know we do not have a load of players, but the national team comes first, and we support that to the absolute maximum,” he said.

“If we don’t go Leinster this week with a full team, so be it. We are here essentially to support the national team.

“We support that and we have to do the best we can with the resources we have.”

These resources are stretched as were witnessed in the Reivers’ 39-23 win over L’Aquila on Sunday when Bates gave his fringe players the opportunity to prove their worth at the top level.“When players do not play at that level often enough, it becomes a big factor and you lose a bit of an edge,” said Bates.

“Some of the guys in the side for the first time, like James King, had a really encouraging game, it was difficult for him to keep the shape when the intensity of our game slowed.

“But we can take a lot out of it. We scored some good tries, Nikki Walker had a good game again, the line-out functioned really well, and Scott Macleod got good valuable 80 minutes.

“We would have liked to have made it much more straightforward.

“There were a lot of young lads out there and we have to work hard with them.

“It gives people a chance to come through and play. It helps us to make some decisions about these guys for the future.”

So what is the answer?

“The ideal situation for us would be to have a big enough to field a side at the weekend and aside on the Monday night like in the Premiership,” said Bates.

“They do not get a chance to play on a regular basis at a level, which makes a difference.

“For guys like James King, the club game offers them worthwhile experience, for some of the more mature guys, I am not sure if the club game offers them enough.

“It is difficult for them mentally as well go at the intensity that is required, but we have to keep examining that to see if we have it right or not.

“If we cannot increase the resources to the extent that we can play two teams on a regular basis, we might have to look again at the club game.

“But to have two teams, we would need about two squads of 25(as in England).”

On current resources, that will remain, for present, a pipedream.

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