Edinburgh Six Help Scotland Qualify

ALLY HOGG and five other Edinburgh Rugby players helped Scotland book a World Cup quarter final spot following Saturday’s thrilling 18-16 win over Italy in Saint-Etienne. With the stakes exceedingly high, Scotland rose to the occasion with former Edinburgh Rugby playmaker Chris Paterson the hero of the game scoring six penalties from as many attempts.The Edinburgh-born inside centre produced a nerveless place-kicking performance and underlined his quality as a top-class international player in an adrenaline charged classic.Hugo Southwell also played a prominent role after coming off the bench to replace the injured Rory Lamont after only 24 minutes.And prop Craig Smith replaced our summer signing Gavin Kerr in the front row as Frank Hadden’s side became only one of a five countries to have made it to the last eight of every tournament since the competition began in 1987.Simon Webster also put in the hard yards in a physically gruelling match to take the national side onto the next level and bring the feelgood factor back to Scottish rugby._Scotland team: Rory Lamont (Sale Sharks); Sean Lamont (Northampton Saints), Simon Webster (Edinburgh), Rob Dewey (Ulster), Chris Paterson (Gloucester); Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors), Mike Blair (Edinburgh); Gavin Kerr (Edinburgh), Ross Ford (Glasgow Warriors), Euan Murray (Northampton Saints), Nathan Hines (Perpignan), Jim Hamilton (Leicester Tigers), Jason White (Sale Sharks, captain), Simon Taylor (Stade Francais), Allister Hogg (Edinburgh)Substitutes: Scott Lawson (Sale Sharks), Craig Smith (Edinburgh) for Kerr 67 mins, Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets) for Hamilton 75 mins, Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors) for Hogg 72 mins, Chris Cusiter (Perpignan) for Blair 75 mins, Andrew Henderson (Glasgow Warriors) for Dewey 60 mins, Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh) for R Lamont 28 minsNow you have the opportunity of enjoying the perfect weekend of top-class rugby with Edinburgh Rugby v Ospreys on Friday night followed by Scotland’s quarter final tie on Sunday at the Stade de France, kick off 8pm.The Swansea-based club lost their opening two matches of the season, but Ospreys, with Justin Marshall pulling the strings, will pose a formidable threat at Murrayfield.Nevertheless you can play your part in helping Edinburgh Rugby defend The Castle by showing your support for the players on the night.