Rugby coaches are missing out on one of their main tactical weapons due to sponsors' demands and the way players are still adapting to professionalism, according to Scotland's head coach.

Frank Hadden made the claim in a discussion with Alex McLeish organised by BBC Radio Five Live, when he was asked whether he envied his new football counterpart being allowed to name his team shortly before kick-off.

"I would like to do that, very much so, but I'm not sure the players are ready for that yet," he said. "The excuse we hear from the players is always that you need plenty of time to get mentally ready for what's going to happen at the weekend and so on, and of course there's a requirement from sponsors RBS that we announce the team 48 hours in advance."

Hadden's tone was light-hearted, but there was a serious note to it. While rugby is a more structured and physical game and every player should be training as if he was required on a Saturday, naming the team late would allow coaches to keep opponents guessing.

As McLeish pointed out: "Sometimes you are caught between a rock and a hard place in that you want to shape the team and do some practice earlier in the week, and sometimes it's hard to do that because there are injuries, so you're waiting on a few players.

"Or it's a really important game, where you don't want to give the opposing coach the edge, in he knows your team and can adjust accordingly by changing his tactics in advance."

To underline his message he recalled examples of the importance of keeping the team under wraps dating back to his own time playing under one of the greatest ever Scottish football managers.

"Being involved in a World Cup with Scotland as a player when Alex Ferguson was running the team after Jock Stein died, I know he was very aggrieved that the press found out his team in advance of a game two days ahead. That's why football managers are so cautious and don't like revealing their teams too early.

"Going back to Aberdeen days and Alex Ferguson again, when we got to a cup final he would take us to the Holiday Inn and we would have a team meeting in the jacuzzi, where Alex would tell us the team that was going to play in the cup final six days' later. That's pretty much unheard of nowadays."