Chris Cusiter and Glasgow's Dan Parks line up again at half-back and the scrum-half came out in support of the stand-off who has come in for criticism after the defeat to Ireland.
"Dan Parks is a very good kicker who sits deep and kicks well, said Cusiter - the man of the match as Scotland narrowly lost away to France in this season’s Six Nations opener," Cusiter tells today's Scotsman.
"Dan and I have been together quite a few times now and definitely feel we have come quite a long way and understand each other quite well.
"We were both relatively inexperienced at international level but the aim now is to progress in trying to be able to control games. You don't get too long to settle in but when we have played well together such as in Paris when Scotland lost narrowly things went very well.
"Key was getting a lot of possession on the front foot and that enabled Dan to show the strength of his game which is kicking. In Paris Dan was pinpoint accurate and dropping the ball a yard inside touch before it rolled over the line. There is, of course, much more to his play than that," added ex-Watsonians and Boroughmuir scrum-half Cusiter who now plays for the Borders district outfit. Parks was born in the Southern Hemisphere and owes allegiance to Scottish ancestry.
Cusiter added: "There are people who say aspects of his game are not as good as others. Like most Australians Dan is a good communicator who always has plenty of chat.
"In terms of skill levels they are up there with anyone in the squad and besides kicking his passing and distribution are very good while he is also very, very quick.
"Overall, Dan's approach is to put players in the right part of the pitch through his accurate boot and while some of the criticism he that has come his way must have been hard he is confident enough to get on with it.
You can read the article here
Scotland
15 Chris Paterson (Edinburgh Rugby)
14 Simon Webster (Edinburgh Rugby)
13 Andy Craig (Glasgow Warriors)
12 Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh Rugby)
11 Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors)
10 Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors)
9 Chris Cusiter (The Borders)
1 Tom Smith (Northampton Saints)
2 Gordon Bulloch (Glasgow Warriors) CAPTAIN
3 Gavin Kerr (Leeds Tykes)
4 Stuart Grimes (Newcastle Falcons)
5 Scott Murray (Edinburgh Rugby)
6 Simon Taylor (Edinburgh Rugby)
8 Allister Hogg (Edinburgh Rugby)
7 Jon Petrie (Glasgow Warriors)
Substitutes
16 Robbie Russell (London Irish)
17 Bruce Douglas (The Borders)
18 Nathan Hines (Edinburgh Rugby)
19 Jon Dunbar (Leeds Tykes)
20 Mike Blair (Edinburgh Rugby)
21 Gordon Ross (Leeds Tykes)
22 Ben Hinshelwood (Worcester Warriors)