SCOTLAND A captain Stuart Reid is still waiting to discover if he will be allowed to line up against Wales tomorrow.
Reid, who led the Scots to glory in last season's second-string Five Nations Championship, is listed to play in the back row as the Scots launch their title defence.
However, his hopes of lining up at Myreside depend on the verdict of a disciplinary hearing at Twickenham, which was last night due to deal with his recent sending off while playing for Leeds in a cup tie against Yorkshire rivals Rotherham.
Reid is almost certain to be banned for at least a fortnight, but he and Morgan may not know until today when the suspension would start.
Team manager Dougie Morgan revealed that a representative for the former Boroughmuir man was pressing for any sentence to run from after this weekend.
Morgan added: ''Should that plea fail, we will have to leave Stuart out of our line-up - but we have made contingency plans.
''We hope the fact that Stuart has already served a week's ban imposed by his club will persuade the disciplinary panel to let him play at Myreside.''
To add to Morgan's worries, replacement lock Stewart Campbell was ruled out of the match after failing to shake off the effects of an elbow injury sustained during last week's WRU Challenge Trophy.
In Reid's absence, Morgan is likely to switch Cammy Mather from lock to back-row - leaving him the task of finding two second-row men at short notice, one to start the game in place of Mather and the other to sit on the bench.
The most obvious candidates would be Iain Fullarton and Carl Hogg, who are due to appear for the Combined Districts against Crawshay's Welsh at Myreside - the curtain-raiser for the
A international.
Meanwhile, coach Ian Rankin is banking on the ''Ulster factor'' to play a major part in his side's quest for victory.
He explained: ''We specifically asked for the game to be played in the evening instead of the afternoon.
''It has been the case in recent years that travelling fans have outnumbered the locals and made it more like an away game.
''This is simply because many potential home supporters are at work, while the visitors are in town for the whole weekend and are free to get to the match.
''We hope that by shifting the kick-off to early evening, Scotland spectators will head for Myreside instead of going straight home.''
Rankin added: ''Ulster have turned Friday night into rugby night by playing the bulk of their European Cup and inter-provincial ties then - and you can't argue with the success they've had in attracting tremendous attendances.''
qTHE English Rugby Football Union (RFU) have been fined #80,000 as the row over the running of the game continues.
The fine, with #50,000 suspended pending future good behaviour by the RFU, has been levied by the International Rugby Board (IRB).
The row started when the clubs appealed to the European Commission, claiming they should be allowed to organise their own competitions and television coverage. The IRB want to retain that power and had struck a deal with the RFU to that effect.
Now the IRB are claiming the RFU have reneged on that deal and withheld information that would have helped them in their battle with the clubs.
The fine results from a disciplinary hearing in December, which first announced the withholding a #60,000 grant over the RFU's conduct during the dispute over the Anglo-Welsh unofficial fixtures.
Twickenham will have to pay #30,000 of the latest #80,000 fine provided they do not have the verdict overturned on appeal.
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