Baseball

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NBA

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Scotland coach Frank Hadden wants side to give Romania a rugby lesson News

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) _ Frank Hadden wants his Scotland lineup to take the high ground against Romania.

Scotland coach Hadden picked his biggest forward pack, wanting to match muscle with Romania, and recalled goalkicking utility Chris Paterson for Tuesday's World Cup Group C match at Murrayfield.

He wants to avoid the stuttering form of Scotland's Six Nations contemporaries, who have been unconvincing so far in the tournament.

``Romania will be tough and dangerous opponents. We've seen great improvements in their game over the last two years,'' Hadden said. But, ``we will be trying to impose a quality of rugby on them that they won't be able to handle.''

The Scots crossed for eight tries in an opening 56-10 win over Portugal, but Hadden said handling errors cost them more points and he wants to see those mistakes erased against Romania.

``Our focus is to reduce certain sloppy sequences or set pieces in our game that a stronger side would take advantage of,'' he said. ``We need to extend our quality play and are making distinct signs of progress.''

Scotland captain Jason White said his lineup needed to focus on the best options on and off the ball, and not get sucked into an arm wrestle against the big Romanian forwards.

``Romania are tough opponents, but we play a quicker, sharper, more intelligent game,'' he said.

The Romanians tested Italy in their opening match, earning a point from a 24-18 loss.

And Romania coach Daniel Santamans has retained the same starting lineup to meet Scotland.

James Hamilton, one of five changes in the Scottish starting XV, said his team is ready for the physical confrontations.

``The Romanians are really physical and abrasive,'' Hamilton said. ``Their forwards were dominant against Italy in the set piece and around the breakdown.

``We've worked on that area and training has been that bit more physical so we get in the mindset.''

Hamilton replaced Scott Murray in the second row, while Gavin Kerr replaces the injured Allan Jacobsen at prop and Ross Ford was preferred to Scott Lawson at hooker.

In the backline, Simon Webster switched from wing to centre, displacing Marcus Di Rollo, and Paterson was included on the wing.

Paterson played at fly half in Scotland's World Cup warmups against South Africa and Ireland, but Dan Parks was given the starting No. 10 role against Portugal.

Hadden wanted to make room for Paterson, who has played at fullback, wing, fly half and centre for Scotland.

``Before the tournament I knew that I might play in a number of positions,'' Paterson said. ``I don't see myself in a set position, I just see myself as a rugby player.''

His goalkicking ability means Romania risks conceding points if it gives away penalties anywhere in its own territory.

Despite never having won at Murrayfield, nor beaten Scotland since 1991, Sorin Socol says Romania did not mind travelling to Edinburgh because it would break the monotony of the training venue.

``It will be really good for us, this change of scenery. For us, being in Agen it doesn't feel like the World Cup,'' the Romania lock and captain said. ``It's not like it was in Australia, where there were people on the streets, World Cup signs and posters everywhere.

``We are really looking forward to the atmosphere in Scotland.''

Romania loomed in the 1980s as an expansion team for the old Five Nations tournament, but tumbled down the rankings when rugby was caught up in the backlash following the fall of the Communist regime.

It has slowly started to regain some ground and now selects the bulk of the national squad from professionals who play in the French leagues.

The forwards have a reputation for being granite hard.

Romania packed down against a delivery van on Saturday but Santamans denied it was training for Scotland.

``No,'' he said, ``it was for a photo in a book.''



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Cricket

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Ricky Ponting says Australia will improve with more challenging contests

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