Allan Massie: Summer tour should offer chance to young Glasgow and Edinburgh players Published on Saturday 12 May 2012 03:39 Sad reflection on our status that Australia are using Scotland game as a warm-up ANDY Robinson will announce his summer tour party on Wednesday, and we already know that it will be without three players who were surely inked in to start the first international, against Australia on June 5: Lee Jones, David Denton and Jim Hamilton, all of them among the successes of our unsuccessful Six Nations. He will be keeping his fingers crossed when he watches Glasgow in their play-off match against Leinster today, and again, of course, should they happen to upset the odds and beat Leinster to reach the final. He will be hoping for players to shine, but his hopes will be mixed with anxiety. There are now only three matches on the tour - the one against New South Wales Waratahs having been cancelled. So fewer players will be taken than was originally intended. Some see the tour as an opportunity to blood new young players, and would be happy if he chose to leave some of the more senior ones behind. Yet it's an awkward schedule, with the biggest match coming first. Incidentally, it's a sad reflection on our present lowly status that Australia are using the Scotland game as a warm-up for three Tests against Wales. One can't suppose that Robinson will take the risk of fielding three or four new caps against the Wallabies. It's more likely that almost all the starting XV in that game will have featured in the Six Nations. That said, one would hope that some of the younger players from Edinburgh and Glasgow will not only go on the tour but be given their chance to start at least one international: Matt Scott and Grant Gilchrist, from Edinburgh, Jon Welsh, Rob Harley, Chris Fusaro, Duncan Weir and Alex Dunbar from Glasgow. Tom Brown and Pat MacArthur are two others one would like to see selected. Successful teams usually have a settled combination at half-back, but, in his time as Scotland coach, Robinson does not seem to have decided which of his three scrum-halves - Mike Blair, Chris Cusiter and Rory Lawson - he thinks best, and there is now a similar uncertainty at number 10. Ruaridh Jackson became first choice at the World Cup, was then injured, and hasn't shown much in the way of good form since. He is perhaps the most naturally talented of the three, but one feels he really needs a run of half-a-dozen matches to get his game in order. Many who watch Glasgow regularly are sure that Duncan Weir, who has been picked ahead of Jackson against Leinster today, is the better player. He has bags of self-confidence, but whenever I've seen him has made too many errors of judgement and handling mistakes - I may have been unlucky. Greig Laidlaw is, deservedly, the man in possession, without yet quite reproducing his best Heineken form in a Scotland shirt. It may be that Robinson's uncertainty as to his best pairing infects the players and makes it difficult for them to feel secure. Competition for places is a fine thing. But a lot of people play better when they feel that the coach has full confidence in them. Denton will be missed, for he was the outstanding Scottish forward in the Six Nations. Yet the back-row is one area where we do have strength in depth, and he may benefit from having the summer off, for he is still very young and was looking weary by the end of the season. It will be a pity if Ryan Wilson hasn't recovered from his injury to challenge for the number 8 position. One assumes that Al Kellock will partner Richie Gray at lock in Hamilton's absence. The set scrum has usually gone better with Hamilton there, but none of the teams to be played is noted for scrummaging power, and Kellock is probably our best line-out operator. Tim Visser will surely make his long-awaited debut in a Scottish jersey, which is something to look forward to, though I am not clear precisely when he becomes eligible - apparently on June 12 which is after the Australian Test. It is to be hoped that the SRU have done their paperwork properly this time. So, in Lee Jones's absence, the wings will probably be Sean Lamont and Max Evans, unless Robinson chooses to play Joe Ansbro there. I hope he will keep Stuart Hogg at full-back rather than pick him in the centre. In any case, young Dunbar's form over recent weeks has surely made the case for playing him at 13. Playing three internationals in three weeks is demanding, physically and mentally. So it's likely that all the tour party will get on to the pitch at some point. It's sad to see Simon Danielli being forced to retire. Often underrated, he was, when fully fit, the most dangerous wing we have had in his time, certainly the one who looked most likely to score tries. Meanwhile, today we have the Glasgow-Leinster match to look forward to and, perhaps, enjoy, and, of more immediate concern, the Selkirk Sevens.