JOHN WHO?

John Hardie of Scotland tackling Italy's fly half, Tommy Allan

Big Vern Cotter has thrown a few curved balls in his selections for his Scotland RWC 2015 squad by not only selecting Josh Strauss, who only qualifies on residency just before the tournament starts, but also some bloke called John Hardie, who has only played 60 mins for his new country and has no club at present. Now, obviously Mr Cotter knows what he is doing, having taken Clermont from also rans in French rugby to European Champions Cup Finals, and being a fellow Kiwi, he has great contacts in the South Island informing him how good Hardie really is, but it is still a risk to select an unknown ahead of de-risked, consistent performers like Blair Cowan and John Barclay.

However, many Scotland fans will be happy to "shake up" the squad a bit and take a risk on a "kilted" Kiwi, especially one who helped the Highlanders to the Super 15 title this summer, and is one of the few natural open side flankers in the Northern hemisphere. And despite the controversial selections of Hardie, Strauss and WP Nel (to help bolster the front row), it is encouraging to see Scotland able to reject players of the calibre of Barclay, Cowan, Ashe, Jackson, Tonks, Dunbar, Hamilton, Harley and Taylor.

Who would bet on Josh Strauss scoring the winning Scottish try against South Africa (the country of his birth)?