Logan looks for run of consistency to boost Scotland's try tally

It is more than eight years now since Kenny Logan made his international debut - as a 20-year-old stand-in for Gavin Hastings against the Wallabies at Ballymore. At Murrayfield this afternoon against Samoa, though, he will be making another new start for Scotland.

It is more than eight years now since Kenny Logan made his international debut - as a 20-year-old stand-in for Gavin Hastings against the Wallabies at Ballymore. At Murrayfield this afternoon against Samoa, though, he will be making another new start for Scotland.

Recalled on the left wing in place of Jon Steel, Logan makes his 49th appearance for his country in the third of Scotland's three pre-Christmas Tests on home soil. Whether he reaches the half-century mark in the Stade de France on 4 February, when the Scots open their 2001 Six Nations campaign against the French, remains to be seen, however.

It has been not so much a Logan run as a Logan meander for the Stirling man to get this far down the international road. Consistently inconsistent, notably in his all-round application, Logan has been dropped in each of the last two seasons and the one-time Heart of Midlothian goalkeeping triallist knows he needs a solid display against Samoa to avoid a hat-trick slipping through his hands.

"It's my big chance to show people there is a difference in me," the Wasps wing said. "The coaches have told me they want a greater work-rate from me and in training I've been concentrating on providing that."

Scotland's head coach, Ian McGeechan, acknowledged: "Kenny has had to prove himself again and he has done that in the way he has trained. He knows what we want from him. Form and attitude are important and Kenny is fitting the bill on both counts. He is playing well and scoring tries."

On the latter point, at least, that is more than can be said of Scotland. In three of the four halves they have played at Murrayfield in the past fortnight they have drawn try-scoring blanks - in the first half of their 53-6 win against the United States and in both halves of the 30-9 defeat against the Wallabies a week ago.

The Samoan side Logan and his team-mates face today might have been seriously weakened by the Pacific islanders' pay dispute but they managed to hold out for 34 minutes against Wales last Saturday before shipping six tries in a 50-6 defeat. McGeechan, for one, is not banking on an easy, free-scoring ride.

"This is a very dangerous game for us," he said. "There is no way they were 50 points poorer than Wales last Saturday. They could easily have led at half-time. There were four or five occasions when one pass was the difference between them scoring and not.

"In many respects they were very unlucky against Wales and that's something we have to be aware of. If we don't play well there will be all sorts of problems waiting for us."

The scrummaging problems Scotland encountered against the Wallabies ought to be eased by the promotion of Richard Metcalfe and Jason White to the starting XV, the 20st lock and the 16st 8lb flanker having belatedly beefed up the pack as replacements last Saturday.

Scotland: C Paterson; C Murray (both Edinburgh Reivers), A Bulloch (Glasgow Caledonians), J Leslie (Newcastle), K Logan (Wasps); G Townsend (Castres), B Redpath (Sale); T Smith (Brive), S Brotherstone (Northampton), G Graham

(Newcastle), S Murray (Saracens), J White (Glasgow Caledonians), B Pountney (Northampton, capt), J Petrie (Glasgow Caledonians). Replacements: G Bulloch, G McIlwham (both Glasgow Caledonians), S Grimes (Newcastle Falcons), G Beveridge (Glasgow Caledonians), D Hodge (Edinburgh Reivers), J Steel (Glasgow Caledonians).

SAMOA: HV Patu (Vaila); S Faasua (Otahuhu), F So'olefai (Taranaki), F Tuilagi (Leicester), F Toaloa (La Rochelle); Q Sanft (Kirkcaldy), S So'oialo (Western Suburbs); D Tafaemalii (Vaiala), O Matauiau (Hawke's Bay, capt), P Asi (Moataa), S Tone (Manurewa), S Poching, A Vaeluaga, L Mealamu (all Otahuhu), J Maligi (Marist). Replacements: I Evalu, M Schuster (both Marist), A Toleafoa, A Mika (both Parma), J Mamea (Apia), M Schwaiger (Taradale), T Veiru (West Hartlepool).

Referee: I Hyde-Ley (Canada).