Captaining Scotland to the Six Nations wooden spoon earlier this year meant Greig Laidlaw found himself on the receiving end of some stinging criticism.

But former international Hugo Southwell believes that not only was the flak unwarranted but Laidlaw will bounce back in style at the upcoming World Cup.

Scotland lost all five games in the Six Nations, with a last-gasp 22-19 defeat to Italy particularly hard to take, leaving the skipper right in the line of fire.

With Sam Hidalgo-Clyne impressing for Edinburgh and offering a more explosive option at scrum-half, there is no guarantee that Laidlaw will start when Scotland open up their World cup campaign against Japan on September 23.

But with the 29-year-old, Hidalgo-Clyne and Glasgow Warriors number nine Henry Pyrgos all offering something different, Southwell believes Vern Cotter’s selection headache is a positive one to have.

“Greig is a great all-round player. He's had a great season at Gloucester and received some unfair stick from some departments,” said Southwell, who was helping to promote SSE's joint sponsorship of ITV’s coverage of Rugby World Cup 2015.

“Greig is a great player but not just as a player, as a kicker he is your most reliable goal-kicker. It's whether that can be forfeited for something different.

“You've got Sam Hidalgo-Clyne who is a slightly different player, a bit more flair and lightning quick.

“Then you've got Henry Pyrgos who is a mix of the two, so they've got a really good blend of scrum-halves.

“Scrum-half in Scotland is always a position we have never had a problem with.

“I think Greig has actually done a good job as captain but frustratingly the results probably haven't gone the way of Scotland.

“He's one of the leaders in the team and to take the pressure off him by giving the captaincy to someone else might not be a bad thing.”

Scotland played their first World Cup warm-up game last weekend and although they went down 28-22 to Ireland, there were plenty of positives to be taken with a number of fringe players making an impact.

Cotter now has three matches before the World Cup to decide on his best starting XV with a double header against Italy preceding a clash with France.

The coach must also cut his squad down to the final 31-man group and Southwell believes there are some tough decisions in the offing.

“I think the strength in depth is going to be key to this World Cup,” added Southwell, who was speaking at the ‘SSE Sounds Of Victory’ pop-up shop in London, where he helped to unveil the world’s first ever sports bottle that harnesses the hair-raising power of crowd noise.

. “You go through a six to eight week period where you going to get injuries and players who are off form.

“You need people backing them up and at the weekend against Ireland that was the most exciting thing to see.

“It's going to make Vern Cotter's decision for the final 31 at the end of August a very difficult one.

“I think he probably expected it to be easier than the job he's going to have. You saw guys like Greig Tonks making his first start at fly-half in international rugby and acquitting himself really well.

“Grant Gilchrist also came back from a long time out and played really well. Across the team everyone put their hand up.”

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