Parks starts in Scotland opener

Scotland will start their World Cup campaign with Dan Parks at stand-off when they take on Portugal in St Etienne on Sunday.

Chris Paterson staked his claim with two solid displays against Ireland and South Africa last month but Parks will line up at number 10 in Scotland’s opening Pool C match.

Scotland head coach Frank Hadden has named 10 players for his team’s opening game who will be making their World Cup debuts, and is taking the opportunity to test the strength of his squad ahead of tougher games which lie ahead.

Sean Lamont, Marcus Di Rollo, Parks, Allan Jacobsen, Allister Hogg, Simon Taylor, Scott Lawson and Scott Murray are included as Hadden makes eight changes to the side beaten by South Africa in Scotland’s final warm-up match.

Hadden said: “After all the preparation in the gym, training field and our two August Tests the players are now champing at the bit to start the competition.

“Dan Parks and Chris Paterson are both important players for us. Dan has played and trained extremely well and all the coaches agreed that Dan should start on Sunday.

“At hooker Scott Lawson has been fit for a fortnight now after the ankle injury he sustained during our preparations in St Andrews. It seemed obvious to us that he was ready for a run.

“Alongside him Allan Jacobsen has earned the right to start but, as usual, we fully expect Gav Kerr to play a significant role (from the bench).

“In the backs Rob Dewey’s favoured berth is 12 and Marcus has trained exceptionally well and deserves the opportunity to bring his considerable experience of international rugby to the party.”