[ritchiebaby]

Scotland start their campaign with 2 matches tomorrow, the first against Italy, who are returning to the world stage for the first time since they hosted the Championships in 2010. They are a clear and present danger in that they finished fourth in last year's European Championships. The Scots also have to beware of their evening opponents, Japan, represented by the team who finished fifth in last year's World Championships.

On Sunday, Scotland play Finland, who are similarly ranked to Italy based on results over the past 6 seasons.

Not too difficult a start, then, but Scotland still have to be on their mettle and guard against a tendency to be caught out on games against "lesser" teams.

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The official Scotland team photograph


Ewan MacDonald, Duncan Fernie, Ruairidh Greenwood, Euan Byers and David Murdoch