Lions coach Ian McGeechan has refused to close the door on the Test hopes of the Scottish players in his squad despite leaving all four out of the team to face Natal Sharks.

The First Test is approaching fast but forwards Nathan Hines, Euan Murray and Ross Ford have been ignored for the clash with the Sharks while scrum-half Mike Blair has made the bench.

Of the four Scottish players in the squad, it appears Hines, who impressed in the win against Golden Lions last Wednesday, has the best chance of breaking into the test team, but he faces stiff competition from Simon Shaw and Alun-Wyn Jones.

Jones has been preferred to him against the Sharks, while Adam Jones and Lee Mears start at tight-head and hooker ahead of Murray and Ford.

McGeechan said: "We will try to get combinations together but, as a XV, it is unlikely they will play as a XV before the Test match.

"The main thing had been to get everyone playing in those first three games. Now, in the next three games it is important to keep looking at some of the combinations.

"The only other way of doing it is you separate the teams and you say to half the squad, 'You are not going to be involved in a Test match,' and I am not prepared to do that."