Who does he support if Scotland play England?

When the draw was made for the Rugby World Cup there was probably a sigh of relief within Team Brown that the chances of Scotland having to play England seemed remote.

But one of the consequences of France’s shock defeat by Argentina last night is that it makes the prospect of such a clash look more likely.

For assuming matches go broadly to form then Scotland looked set to end up in second place behind New Zealand in their group with the prosect of playing the winner of France’s group for a semi-final place. After the opening match there’s a real chance that the hosts won’t come top and the Scots could face lesser opponents giving them a much better chance of getting through at the quarter final stage.

Assuming that England win their group they are likely to find themselves playing Wales in the quarter final and the winner of that match could end up playing Scotland in the semis.

This sets up the delightful prospect of Gord, a former rugby player himself until he lost the sight in one eye after an injury playing, having to decide which country to support. This is one issue where it wil be hard to sit on the fence.

After his less than convincing answers during last year’s soccer world cup he’s bound to be pressed for a view. His reported comments that the best goal he had ever seen was by Paul Gascoigne against Scotland attracted a level of derision.

Maybe the USA team will solve his problem this evening with a shock win over the holders? Maybe Scotland can triumph over New Zealand. Maybe.

Mike Smithson