Scotland make wholesale changes for Fiji match including first starts and potential debut off bench
Gregor Townsend makes 14 changes to starting XV that lost to South Africa
Prolific wingers Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe have been handed their first starts of the summer in a much-changed Scotland side for Saturday’s Nations Championship game against Fiji at Murrayfield.
The two Edinburgh men are Scotland’s top try-scorers of all time, with Graham leading the way on 38 and van der Merwe on 35.
Head coach Gregor Townsend has made 14 changes in total to the side that started against South Africa last weekend, losing 42-28 in Pretoria. Only Gregor Brown remains from the XV who lined up against the Springboks, and he switches from lock to No 8.
There is no Finn Russell in the matchday squad, with the exceptional fly-half replaced by Saracens’ Fergus Burke. He’ll be partnered by George Horne who takes over from Ben White at scrum-half.
Stafford McDowall, the Glasgow Warriors centre, will captain the team and is joined in the midfield by club-mate Ollie Smith. Sione Tuipulotu, Scotland’s regular skipper, is on the bench.
Tom Jordan comes back into the side at full-back, having started Scotland’s opening match of the Nations Championship against Argentina in Cordoba at 10.
The all-new front row comprises Rory Sutherland, Gregor Hiddleston, making his first start for Scotland, and D’arcy Rae, and behind them are locks Jonny Gray and Max Williamson. Gray will win his 83rd Scotland cap.
Joining Brown in the back row are Josh Bayliss and Freddy Douglas. The latter turned 21 earlier this year and makes his first international start having already played two times for the national side as a replacement. His Edinburgh team-mate and fellow flanker Liam McConnell is named on the bench.
Fiji slumped to a disappointing 73-8 loss to England in Liverpool last week after opening their Nations Championship campaign with a 39-24 defeat by Wales in Cardiff. Their cause has not been helped by having to play in Europe when these fixtures are technically part of the new tournament’s ‘Southern Series’ which should see the Southern Hemisphere teams playing at home.
Scotland have made a very solid start to the Nations Championship, beating Argentina away 47-38 and then pushing South Africa close. They will be fancied to win well at Murrayfield, although Fiji defeated the Scots in Suva last summer.
While Townsend has made wholesale changes, he has opted for plenty of experience on the bench. Pierre Schoeman and Zander Fagerson are the reserve props, Scott Cummings covers the second row and Magnus Bradbury joins McConnell as a back-row option. It is a six-two split, with the backs cover provided by Jamie Dobie and Tuipulotu.
There is likely to be one new cap awarded as Glasgow hooker Seb Stephen has been named on the bench and is set to be given game-time.
Scotland currently sit third in the Nations Championship’s Northern Conference ahead of what is their final game of the summer. They will play three more games in the autumn, all in Edinburgh, with New Zealand, Australia and Japan all due at Murrayfield. There will then be north v south play-off matches at Twickenham on the last weekend of November to determine the final placings.
Scotland team (v Fiji, Nations Championship, Saturday, 2:10pm, Murrayfield)
15. Tom Jordan; Darcy Graham; Ollie Smith, 12. Stafford McDowall (capt), 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Fergus Burke, 9. George Horne; 1. Rory Sutherland, 2. Gregor Hiddleston, 3. D’arcy Rae, 4. Jonny Gray, 5. Max Williamson, 6. Josh Bayliss, 7. Freddy Douglas, 8. Gregor Brown.
Replacements: 16. Seb Stephen, 17. Pierre Schoeman, 18. Zander Fagerson, 19. Scott Cummings, 20. Magnus Bradbury, 21. Liam McConnell, 22. Jamie Dobie, 23. Sione Tuipulotu.
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