There's no doubt about it: a win over the combined might Tonga, Samoa and Fiji would add a considerable feather to Scotland's cap. Sure, the locals have seen off the likes of France and England in recent times, but victory over the Pacific Islanders will prove that the Scots can once again hold their own against natural flair.

But it won't be easy. After putting up good fights against New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Wales, the tourists are hungry for their first ever win. If the duck is to be broken anywhere, one sense it would be in Edinburgh - next up for the Islanders is a date at Lansdowne Road, not a place renown for its fragile waterfowl.

But while the Scotland rugby team appears to have progressed in almost every facet of the game since Hadden took over as head coach in September of 2005, the one area in which the team seems to have lost ground is in the line-out.

Once a towering force in these crucial touch-line contests, the Scots have struggled in recent years to secure the amount of line-out possession necessary if they are to go from being plucky challengers against the top teams of world rugby, to being serious contenders for a place amongst the game's elite.

Earlier this week Hadden admitted that some of the blame for this situation must lie at his door, when he pointed out that his tinkering had meant that during his time in charge Scotland were yet to field the same hooker and second-row combination in two consecutive matches.

It is something he has remedied this week, by retaining the services of Dougie Hall at hooker, and the second-row pairing of Nathan Hines and Scott Murray, for Saturday's match. All three started in last weekend's 48-6 victory over Romania.

"It has been mentioned that this is the first time since he has been in charge that the two jumpers and the hooker have been the same for two matches in a row, but Frank has been well within his rights to try different things out," said Hall.

"Possibly if I had stuck my hand up a bit more convincingly when I got my chances then I would have stayed in the team - and that goes for Scott Lawson and Ross Ford as well. Maybe we didn't make that decision easy enough for him.

"Frank has got to pick the player he believes will perform best in that situation and we're all aware of that.

"In an ideal world I'd be the only guy up for selection, and I'd be selected every time, but unfortunately I don't think that's going to happen.

"Every time I go out there I give everything I can, but sometimes it doesn't go as well as you'd hoped.

"But I've started this season on a good note, and my job is to consistently perform better and better, so hopefully I can raise it again this weekend."

Looking at the line-out in particular, Hall said he believed that there were definite signs of improvement, even if the quality of the opposition made it hard to gauge how far the team has moved forward.

The line-out was one of the areas where the Pacific Islanders struggled during their 38-20 defeat to Wales last weekend, but Hall expects a much improved performance from the tourists at Murrayfield this weekend.

"The Pacific Islanders are full of talent, and a lot of the problems they had last week will have been down to the fact they have not been together long," he said.

"I think they will be a lot better this week because the coach will have had something to look at, so he can identify where they have gone wrong. I'm sure they will be a lot more organised this week."

And Scotland will have to be very organised to cope with the flair of the Islanders' backline and the dancing feet of Rupeni Caucaunibuca, a player Chris Paterson recently described as "the best attacking player the world has seen for a long time".

Northampton Saints wing Sean Lamont is another Scotland player looking forward to the clash with 'Caucau'.

"I was speaking to some of the Edinburgh boys who came up against him when they played Agen in the Heineken Cup recently, and they were saying that he is a tank," he said.

"They would tackle him and feel they had absolutely smashed him, but when they looked at the video afterwards they could see he had hardly moved half an inch.

"I suppose if we can keep the ball then he won't get as many chances to cause trouble."

Unfortunately for Scotland, Caucau is not going to be the only Islander looking to make an impression.

"I was watching their game against Wales and it was obvious that they had just been thrown together that week, but they've still got massive skill levels," said Lamont.

"Their ability to offload in the tackle is brilliant and that can really kill defences.

"We knew Romania were going to be big up front last week, but we always knew we would be good enough to beat them. However, we definitely have to be more wary of the Pacific Islanders because they've got a multitude of talent.

"They are very good at disrupting your possession whilst playing a nice free-flowing game when they have possession.

"But if we keep hold of the ball and use it well, while spoiling their ball as much as possible, then there is no reason why we can't get a result.

"It's not a bad little build-up, with these two games taking us into the Australia match next weekend, but this will definitely be a tough one because we don't really know what to expect."

Ones to watch:

For Scotland: The return of Simon Taylor is a boost for Scottish rugby. Whether he's a blindside is debatable but there's no questioning his talents. Sadly, the Edinburgh star's career has been cursed with injuries; after all these years, one still tends to refer to Taylor's potential rather than his worth. Let us hope he can now fulfil his vast promise. 

For the Pacific Islanders: This is a rare chance to see Rupeni Caucaunibuca in all his glory, a man as elusive on the pitch as he is off it. Murrayfield is in for a treat.

Head-to-head: The battle of the line-out jumpers is crucial. Scotland can't afford to cough up impromptu attacking opportunities to the Islanders.

Prediction: The Islanders will have leaned a great deal form last week's loss to Wales and will be looking to expose Scotland's rather soft midriff. If the tourists can open up that channel they will take some stopping. Islanders by 7 points. 

The teams:

Scotland: 15 Chris Paterson (Edinburgh, captain), 14 Simon Webster (Edinburgh), 13 Marcus Di Rollo (Edinburgh), 12 Andrew Henderson (Glasgow), 11 Sean Lamont (Northampton Saints), 10 Dan Parks (Glasgow), 9 Chris Cusiter (Border Reivers), 8 Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow Warriors), 7 Kelly Brown (Border Reivers), 6 Simon Taylor (Edinburgh), 5 Scott Murray (Edinburgh), 4 Nathan Hines (Perpignan), 3 Euan Murray (Glasgow Warriors), 2 Dougie Hall (Edinburgh), 1 Gavin Kerr (Border Reivers).
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford (Border Reivers), 17 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), 18 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), 19 Dave Callam (Edinburgh), 20 Mike Blair (Edinburgh), 21 Phil Godman (Edinburgh), 22 Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh).

Pacific Islanders: 15 Norman Ligairi (Brive  & Fiji), 14 Lome Fa'atau (Wellington & Samoa), 13 Kameli Ratuvou (Saracens & Fiji), 12 Elvis Seveali'i (Sale & Samoa), 11 Rupeni Caucaunibuca (Agen & Fiji), 10 Tusi Pisi (Massey & Samoa), 9 Moses Rauluni (Saracens & Fiji), 8 Epi Taione (Sanyo & Tonga), 7 Nili Latu (Bay of Plenty & Tonga), 6 Viliami Vaki (Perpignan & Tonga), 5 Daniel Leo (Wasps & Samoa), 4 Simon Raiwalui (Saracens & Fiji, captain), 3 Tevita Taumoepeau (Worcester & Tonga), 2 Mahonri Schwalger (Wellington & Samoa), 1 Taufa'ao Felise (Cardiff Blues & Tonga).
Replacements: 16 Aleki Lutui (Worcester & Tonga), 17 Justin Va'a (Glasgow Warriors & Samoa), 18 Ma'ama Molitika (IBM & Tonga), 19 Semo Sititi (NTT Docomo Kansai & Samoa), 20 Junior Poluleuligaga (North Harbour & Samoa), 21 Seremaia Bai (Clermont & Fiji), 22 Seru Rabeni (Leicester & Fiji).

Date: Saturday, 18 November
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Conditions: Sunny intervals, dry, light south-westerly winds - max 7°C, min 1°C
Kick-off: 14.30 GMT
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Alan Lewis and George Clancy (both Ireland)
TMO: Hugh Watkins (Wales)