Scotland axe captain Nicol

It has been a horrible few weeks for Andy Nicol. The Glasgow Caledonian scrum half lost the captaincy and his place in the Scotland team yesterday.

Prior to being axed he had skippered his country to a record defeat by England, on the back of being considered not good enough for a preliminary Lions squad.

There was even the slight whiff of a ticket scandal when he admitted selling at face value 16 Calcutta Cup briefs to a friend who runs a corporate hospitality business.

No RFU rules were broken, however. Nor will his spirit have been. Nicol's injury-strewn international

He will have taken his replacement in the team by Bryan Redpath and as captain by Budge Pountney for the match against Italy tomorrow in a philosophical manner. Redpath said:'There is not a problem.We are closer mates than ever. I have also lost the Scotland captaincy, so I know how disappointed Andy will feel.' Redpath could yet find himself inheriting the captaincy. Pountney was said to be suffering'wear and tear'and Newcastle Falcons'uncapped back

row forward Andrew Mower is on stand-by. Team manager Douglas Morgan said:'Budge took a knock on his knee. Another 24 hours will determine whether or not he is fit to play.' The dropping of Nicol, as with that of lock forward Richard Metcalfe, who was replaced by Stuart Grimes, was not unexpected.