Scotland captain John Leslie will travel to Dublin for Saturday's clash with Ireland, but it has still to be decided whether he will start the game.

After indicating that he would make a firm decision on his participation yesterday, coach Ian McGeechan has instead opted to give his star centre further recovery time.

Leslie suffered a blow to his hip in the dismal defeat in Italy, which stiffened up and forced him off the field after just 14 minutes of the game.

Glasgow Caledonians prop Dave Hilton has been forced to withdraw with an elbow injury and Scotland will announce their team tomorrow. Hilton's withdrawal means that Newcastle prop George Graham will at least make the bench following his absence from the Italian debacle.

Former All Blacks coach John Hart is being linked as a possible candidate for the Samoa coaching job, with an appointment due by the end of the month. Hart lost his job after the All Blacks were knocked out of the World Cup last year.