When Scotland A kick off their IRB Nations Cup defence in Bucharest this weekend each and every player will be out to impress coach Sean Lineen and, by extension, put forward the best possible case to the country's senior national coach, Andy Robinson, ahead of next year's World Cup.

Robinson led the Scotland A side to the Bucharest title last year, his first coaching assignment with Scotland, so knows the format and the unique demands of the six-team tournament well.

NATIONS CUP MATCHES >>

"I really enjoyed the tourmanent with the A team in Romania, I enjoyed the way the tournament runs," he told Total Rugby Radio.

"You've got three games in the space of 12 days, the right length of time to play the tournament, but also it's a really good standard playing against the likes of Romania and Georgia. It will be tough for the team."

In defence of their crown, the Scots have named eight full internationals including 48-test veteran Ally Hogg, Nikki Walker, Ben Cairns and Scott MacLeod. They will all be looking to kick on from Bucharest, following in the footsteps of Chris Cusiter, who captained the A side last year and has since gone on to establish himself as the country's number one scrum half.

Robinson: "Important matches for Scotland"

"They are all bidding to get in or back into the senior side, very much so, and that's why they're going - to go and perform," said Robinson.

"I wanted to take a smaller (senior) squad with me to Argentina so that everyone would have the potential to play, and the guys who are going to the Nations Cup are also playing what I see as important 'test' matches for Scotland."

This year the Scots face three matches against Georgia, Namibia and Argentina's second string, the Jaguars, while Italy A and hosts Romania are the other two sides in the competition.

"Georgia really proved themselves in 2007 when they took Ireland to the wire and were inches from beating them in the World Cup, they'll have a strong side; Romania over the years have been a fantastic team and I'm expecting them to grow again and I think they're starting to do that.

"Besides the opposition, though, the players will also be playing in tough weather conditions as well - 34, 35 degrees - so it will be a really good test for them but that's what we want.

"We want them to be put under pressure, we want them to have to work hard and if they're able to do that and be successful then it's a good measure for us in terms of judging whether they're capable of playing in the Autumn against New Zealand."