Scotland assistant coach Sean Lineen has come to the defence of Dan Parks after the Australia-born five-eighth endured his latest dose of verbal abuse from fans at Murrayfield.

Parks, who plays for Glasgow, has never been the most popular player at Scotland's Edinburgh home, in part on account of his ancestry but also because of some inconsistent displays for his adopted country.

So it was no great surprise when Parks was booed at Murrayfield after missing two penalties when neither side had scored during Scotland's 14-10 defeat by world champions South Africa last Saturday, having come on as a replacement for injured goalkicking ace Chris Paterson.

Parks wasn't alone in being off-target, with wing Phil Godman missing two straightforward penalty kicks, one from in front of the posts, in the second-half of a match where Scotland led the Springboks 10-0 at the break.

But it was Parks who got booed and Lineen told the BBC on Monday: "I was disappointed at that kind of response, it's not good for the lad's confidence.

"He tries hard every time he pulls on the jersey and I'd like to think the players and public will support him," added the New Zealand-born former Scotland centre, who has worked with Parks at Glasgow.

Simon Taylor trained with Scotland on Monday after missing his country's first two November internationals with a calf injury.

Taylor suffered his setback on the eve of the 32-6 defeat by the All Blacks and the injury also kept the No.8 out of last Saturday's match.

But the British and Irish Lion came through the training session at Murrayfield and is in line for a comeback in this Saturday's match against Canada at Aberdeen football club's Pittodrie ground in north-east Scotland.

However, seven players sat out Monday's session following injuries sustained against the Springboks.

Thom Evans (leg and arm), Jim Hamilton (ankle), Ally Hogg (head), Rory Lamont (shoulder and leg), Euan Murray (knee), Paterson (cheekbone), and Jason White (neck) all received treatment.

Back-row forward Alasdair Strokosch was brought in, while eight players were promoted from the Scotland A team.

Rob Dewey, Max Evans, Mark Robertson, Nikki Walker, Simon Webster, Kelly Brown, Geoff Cross and Alastair Kellock all trained with the main squad after helping the A side to a 69-3 victory over Georgia's senior team on Friday.

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