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Scotland on their mark and ready to go
Scotland have named an unchanged team and bench for their Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Argentina at the Stade de France in Paris on Sunday.
Coach Frank Hadden keeps faith with the side that squeezed past Italy 18-16 in the Pool C eliminator in St Etienne last weekend.
Rob Dewey faced fierce competition from Andrew Henderson for his place at inside centre, but he is retained.
And Scotland record cap-holder Scott Murray is again left out, with Hadden preferring Nathan Hines and James Hamilton as his starting locks and Scott MacLeod on the bench.
The rest of the team would have been pretty self-explanatory to Hadden, who has gone with his tried and tested.
And the challenge the Scotland coach has laid down to his players is to write their names into Scottish rugby's rich history.
"The pressure of this occasion - a Rugby World Cup quarter-final - could be so massive," Hadden told the official Scotland Rugby Union website.
"I was delighted with the way the players dealt with the massive pressure against Italy. For me last weekend was about respectability.
"Sunday is about a place in the history books.
"What we achieved in St Etienne six days ago is not to be sniffed at.
"Scotland have not always had that respect, yet no-one can take away from us that we are one of only five countries to have qualified for the knock-out stages of every World Cup."
The coach stressed that there was again considerable discussion on the selection for the encounter with the Pumas but acknowledged that the timing of the competition at the start of the Northern Hemisphere season made it harder for players who have had few opportunities to force the coaches' hand.
"We now have a group of players who have played five matches in seven weeks," he added.
"I believe the team are coming together and that they are superbly supported by a group of guys who are just champing at the bit and determined to take any opportunity should one arise."
The players are acutely aware of the magnitude of Sunday's game at the Stade de France but the mood within the camp remains relaxed.
Prop Gavin Kerr missed the last World Cup quarter-final in Australia in 2003 having been injured in the pool stages.
"It's been a big thing for me to be involved this time round in my second World Cup and I'm excited about the challenge ahead having missed our quarter-final four years ago," said Kerr.
"It will be another tough test for us, as far as the front five are concerned.
"They are a similar pack to the Italians so we'll face another hard battle up front and will have to work really hard to provide a platform for the backs to play off.
"We knew the Italy game was going to be tough and we were pleased at how the front five scrummaged and with the job we did.
"This is going to be a different challenge as the Argentinian team has played together for a while now and has therefore a lot of experience of working together.
"It has taken a bit of pressure off being in the quarter final and so we have a chance to enjoy playing a bit of rugby and hopefully getting to the next stages."
Simon Webster is the only member of the squad to have played a full eighty minutes in every pool match, and is set to make his fifth start of the tournament.
"I've really enjoyed all the games even though Italy was such a pressure-cooker kind of affair. I'm really thankful for all the game time I've had and just glad to have played every minute.
"We've had a good week between the games and I'm well looked after as far as recovery is concerned.
"Even last week, when I'd been a bit unwell, the adrenaline kicks in and you can't help felling fresh and raring to go. It'll be the same on Sunday night.
Scotland: 15 Rory Lamont, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Simon Webster, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Chris Paterson, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Andrew Henderson, 22 Hugo Southwell
Date: Sunday, 7 October
Kick off: 21:00 (20:00 BST; 19:00 GMT)
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Referee: Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges: Chris White (England), Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Television match official: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)
