It may only be a so-called friendly on paper, but for Johnnie Beattie the World Cup warm-up clash with Ireland at Murrayfield on Saturday is the biggest match of his career.

A year ago the Glasgow openside flank was rated among the best in his position in the global game.

But a season of injury problems set him back on his heels and he needs to prove his skills once again to Andy Robinson before the coach decides on his final squad for next month's World Cup in New Zealand.

"It's the most pressure that I've ever looked at in one match," Beattie said. "It was nice to be named and given the chance to play, but the flipside of that is that it is a hugely pressurised environment.

"It can make or break, but that's the pressure we all have to deal with while trying to play well and get a victory.

"It's huge, especially when it's all based on one game. That's the kind of frightening thing.

"Everybody is in peak condition and vying for those spots. In my opinion, back row is the most fiercely contested area at the moment.

Meanwhile Scottish Lions stars Chris Cusiter and Mike Blair face a battle to revive their top flight careers after suffering a fresh dose of pre-World Cup injury agony.

Scotland's two most experienced scrum-halves have been ruled of the Ireland encounter and, with time fast running out until the World Cup, at least one of the No9 big guns looks set to be left at home.

Not only has Rory Lawson claimed the position at such a crucial time, he has been made captain for the Murrayfield tussle.

His bench deputy will be Greig Laidlaw - so it could be the case that even if they regain fitness, Cusiter and Blair will be left to fight it out for the third scrumhalf slot in the finalised squad.

Scotland field a new look centre combination in Graeme Morrison and Joe Ansbro, who will be up against an unfamiliar Ireland midfield duo of Fergus McFadden and Paddy Wallace, with regular skipper Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy both nursing injuries.

Ireland, who have won 10 out of their last 12 matches against their Celtic rivals, including a 21-18 success in this season's Six Nations, will be captained for the first time by Leinster lock Leo Cullen while behind the scrum Jonathan Sexton will look to run the game from flyhalf.

The need to experiment in such fixtures coupled with the enduring desire to win the game, can make a World Cup warm-up match tricky for a coach.

But Ireland boss Declan Kidney said: "When you play a Test match there's no holding back...It's a Test match and that's the way we're approaching it - we want to go out there and get a win."

Ireland fullback Rob Kearney returns to Test duty for the first time since suffering a knee injury against New Zealand in November.

"Rob will be judged by a certain standard and there will be comments that he hasn't played for a while," said Kidney.

"All we ask is that he gives everything. If you can do that in a Test it's a bit daunting, but also an added bonus."

Munster scrumhalf Tomas O'Leary is back in Test action too, having made his last Ireland appearance against France in February before being ruled out for the remainder of the season with an eye problem.

Teams:

Scotland: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Rory Lawson (captain), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 David Denton, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 Nick De Luca, 22 Jack Cuthbert.

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Mike McCarthy, 5 Leo Cullen (captain), 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 John Hayes, 19 Mick O'Driscoll, 20 Kevin McLaughlin, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Felix Jones.

Date: Saturday, August 6
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 14.15 (14.15 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Dave Pearson (England), Stuart Terheege (England)
TMO: Graham Warren (England)

AFP