Deans will not take Scots for granted

Australia coach Robbie Deans insists his men will not take Scotland lightly in the one-off Test scheduled for early June.

In a busy period for the Wallabies, they face the Scots in Newcastle on Tuesday, June 5 before embarking on a three-Test series against Wales just four days later. Australia finished third in last year's World Cup while the Scots failed to make it out of the group stages and their poor form continued into the Six Nations, when they failed to win a single match en route to the wooden spoon. It all points to an easy Wallaby win but Deans, who has also made it clear that he is respectful of the Welsh, has been around long enough to know that the men from north of the border can raise their game and cause the odd shock or two, as they did when beating the green and gold back in 2009. "While Scotland is coming off a disappointing Six Nations, they are a team that has traditionally punched above their weight internationally, especially when under-rated," he said. "We experienced that three years ago in Edinburgh and will not be taking for granted the threat that they pose." With the start of the Wales' series so soon after the Scotland encounter, Deans is expected to field a number of fringe players for the clash with Andy Robinson's men and he received a boost with the news that fly-half Quade Cooper is on the brink of returning to club action with the Reds. The mercurial number 10 has not played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament against Wales in the World Cup third-place play-off and his name on the team-sheet will boost Australia's attacking options for their upcoming challenges. Deans will name his starting XV and replacements on June 3, to allow the selectors to take into account any injury concerns from the Super Rugby action that weekend.