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Sharks' Great White urged to battle on

Daniel Schofield
19/11/2008

FORMER Scotland skipper Gavin Hastings believes Sharks’ Jason White is nailed on for the Lions squad this summer after impressing against South Africa’s Schalk Burger last weekend.

Scotland eventually succumbed 14-10 to the world champions on Saturday with the pack, led by White, more than matching the Springboks.

White, aged 30, was again among the stand-out performers in a Scottish jersey as he shackled the dangerous Burger to give Lions coach Ian McGeechan food for thought.

"What Ian needs is the back-row to step up to the sort of performance Scotland produced," said Hastings, who captained Scotland 20 times during his 61-cap career.

"It is not easy because Jason has been up against the likes of Richie McCaw and Schalk Burger who are the very best in the world.

"But he proved he is capable of it and we have seen that in his performances for Scotland previously.

"The difference is that McCaw does it every time he pulls on an All Blacks shirt. That’s the challenge for Jason - to produce consistent performances.

"If he wants to be recognised as world class then he has to do it week in, week out.

"He can see the marker has been laid down by McCaw, it is up to him to show he can reach it."

But while Hastings, who scored 667 points for Scotland, has never doubted the virtues of his tough-tackling fellow countryman – he admits question marks surround White’s ability to stay injury free.

The Sharks flanker was out from November 2006 until August 2007 after sustaining an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament, while he was withdrawn from Saturday’s Test after an hour due to a neck problem.

"The difference between Jason and someone like New Zealand’s Richie McCaw is he never seems to be injured," added Hastings.

"Jason has been hit by injuries, whereas Richie just seems to be impervious to injury. Jason has had to fight back to reach the peak he was at before. This will be on the mind of those involved with picking the squad."

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