Leslie hoping for reprieve

Scotland flanker Martin Leslie will go before the World Cup disciplinary appeals committee on Wednesday and attempt to save his international career.

The 32-year-old Edinburgh player will try to overturn the record 12-week suspension imposed on him last week after he was found guilty of kneeing Jason Keyter in the head during Scotland’s World Cup win over the United States.

Although TV replays indicate the case is clear-cut, Leslie is adamant he did not intentionally strike Keyter and did not deserve the suspension, which blemishes an otherwise exemplary disciplinary record.

The Scottish Rugby Union have had their own legal team working on Leslie’s behalf in Edinburgh and the Kiwi-born star will have a solicitor present at Wednesday’s appearance, as opposed to the original hearing when only team manager Dougie Morgan was there to speak on his behalf.

Leslie is taking a calculated risk as the three-man appeal panel, which will be chaired by Canadian Graeme Mew, not only has the power to decrease the sentence, but also to increase it.

Currently, the player is banned until January 12, which not only rules him out of the remainder of Scotland’s World Cup campaign, after which he was due to retire from international rugby, but also the majority of Edinburgh’s Heineken Cup crusade.

Meanwhile, winger Chris Paterson has admitted the feeling which accompanied Saturday’s record 51-9 hammering by France was the worst he has ever experienced.

Paterson was responsible for all Scotland’s points at the Telstra Stadium but even that could not lift the gloom he felt at such a huge loss.

“Every time you play for Scotland and you are beaten it really hurts,” he said.

“You think back to some of the defeats in the past, like against Canada away last year, and how bad you felt and how hard it was to take.

“But when you are defeated in such an atmosphere as Saturday night, in such a stadium, in such a big event, when there is so much at stake, it is harder to take than any other defeat.”

The 25-year-old Edinburgh flyer felt Scotland could take heart from their performance in the first half hour, when France ‘were almost panicking’.

But once Bernard Laporte’s side got on top, they played with a free spirit the Scots could not match.

While some of the flowing rugby France produced was outstanding to watch, it was almost impossible to play against, although Paterson believes that kind of display is what confidence breeds.

“Some people think they take risks but while they are always willing to have a go, there always appears to be a safety net,” he said.

“There was one point in the game where Fabien Galthie was almost caught on his own line but he escaped almost in slow motion.

“Confidence breeds success and that breeds risk-taking. But when you are playing at a high level, the risks aren’t really risks, they are more calculated attacks.”

The Scots cannot afford to spend too long moping, not with a qualification decider against Fiji looming at Aussie Stadium on Saturday.

Coach Ian McGeechan is certain to make at least one change, with Edinburgh’s Allan Jacobsen due to arrive as a replacement for neck injury victim Gavin Kerr.

But no matter what the make-up of the Scottish side, Paterson insisted lessons will be learned from Saturday’s debacle and minds will be fully focussed when the Fijians rumble into view.

“One good thing is that in a tournament like this, things move very quickly,” he said.

“Now we are five days away from a massive international. The knock-out stages have come round one game sooner for us.

“It is winner-takes-all for a quarter-final against Australia. Matches don’t come much bigger than this.

“Individually, Fiji will always pose great challenges but there is a far greater emphasis on us controlling the game. We cannot afford any negativity this week.”