Scots pair on collision course to face Ireland

JIM HAMILTON and Nathan Hines smashed their 18-stone-plus frames into each other as hard as they could and knew they would be fit for Scotland’s RBS 6 Nations game against Ireland.

Frank Hadden’s first-choice second-row pairing yesterday completed surprise comebacks from injury after being named in the squad for Saturday’s match at Murrayfield.

Hamilton, who missed the win over Italy a week and a half ago with a shoulder injury, was restored to the starting XV, while Hines, who had been expected to miss the entire championship with a knee problem, was named on the bench.

Their rehabilitation programme included a session at Murrayfield last week when the heavyweight duo simply ran into each other at full speed.

Edinburgh star Hamilton explained: “Me and Nathan did a sort of fitness test out the back on Friday. We were pelting each other out there.

“He was running as hard as he could at me; I was running as hard as I could at him.

“It was just a matter of knocking each other down.

“It was a fairly big collision. I think if me and him can tackle each other and run at each other, I suppose that’s about as tough as it gets.”

Hamilton revealed he had never before experienced such an intense one-on-one fitness test but insisted it was vital neither man held back.

“Sometimes when you do stuff like that, there’s a gentleman’s agreement, but we knew going into that that you need to test each other,” the 26-year-old said.

“You can’t go into an international 60%, 70%.”

Swindon-born Hamilton suffered his shoulder injury early on in last month’s game in France, revealing he thought he had broken his collarbone.

He added: “It just swelled up straight away and the scrummaging was almost impossible. It’s a four-to-six-week injury; I’m back in three and a half.

“I’ve been working first thing in the morning to last thing at night with the physio, Stephen Mutch, and the fitness guys to do everything possible to put me in a position for selection this week.

“So I should probably thank them for that.”

Since Friday’s face-off, Hamilton has come through scrummaging sessions unscathed and is confident his injury is behind him.

Having missed only three weeks, he is also sure match fitness will not be a problem.

“I’ve been playing 80 minutes for the majority of the season,” he said.

“I’ve been in the gym seven o’clock in the morning, eight o’clock at night to make sure I’m 100% right.”