Scotland name team to face South Africa as Gregor Townsend makes huge call at full-back and big guns return

Tom Jordan has been handed his first Scotland start in Sunday’s showdown with South Africa but the Glasgow Warriors player has been picked in the unaccustomed role of full-back.

Jordan, 26, came off the bench to replace the injured Kyle Rowe and make his Test debut in last weekend’s 57-17 win over Fiji. He filled in well at full-back in Rowe’s absence but it is asking a lot of the player to start in that position against the world’s best side.

The New Zealand-born Jordan has played the vast majority of his rugby at stand-off and centre but will be in the back field at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Scotland's Tom Jordan has been selected in an unaccustomed full-back role in what will be his first international start against world champions South Africa. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group) | SNS Group / SRU

Rowe injured his hamstring against Fiji and will not be involved this weekend. Darcy Graham also misses out due to concussion and his place on the wing goes to Blair Kinghorn, a position in which he has played four times for Toulouse this season.

Kinghorn returns to the side along with Bath’s Finn Russell and Toulon’s Ben White who all missed out last week as Scotland were unable to select players from France and England because the match took place before the international window opened.

Russell takes over from Adam Hastings at 10, while White comes in for Ali Price at scrum-half. Hastings and Price drop out of the squad.

There are no changes to the pack, with head coach Gregor Townsend keeping faith with the eight who started against Fiji for what is sure to be a huge physical battle against the World Cup holders.

Townsend has switched things around on the bench, bringing in Northampton’s Elliot Millar Mills as back-up tighthead in place of D’Arcy Rae. There are also spots on the bench for Josh Bayliss and Jamie Ritchie, as Townsend opts for a six-two split of forwards and backs. Gregor Brown drops out. 

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, pictured during a training session this week, has named his matchday 23 for the autumn Test against South Africa at Murrayfield. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group) | SNS Group / SRU

Eben Etzebeth will captain South Africa, with regular skipper Siya Kolisi starting on the bench. Locks Franco Mostert and RG Snyman return for the world champions after long spells on the sidelines due to injury, while former Harlequins centre Andre Esterhuizen starts.

Rassie Erasmus has gone for a 7-1 split on the bench in a squad featuring 12 of the 23 from the group that faced Scotland at the World Cup in Marseille 14 months ago.

“This is a seasoned and quality team and adding to that 21 of the 23 players have won a Rugby World Cup title, with some having won two, so they know what it takes to perform at this level,” said Erasmus.

“Many of these combinations have also played together this season either during the Castle Lager Incoming Series and Rugby Championship, or both, which will be valuable against a quality team such as Scotland.

“We are expecting an extremely physical match, so we opted for a seven-one split of forwards on the bench and this was aided by the fact that we have such versatile players in the backline, who can cover different positions if necessary.”

Number eight Kwagga Smith will make his 50th appearance for the Springboks. “Kwagga is a vastly talented player and a fantastic team member, and I’m delighted to see him reach this big career milestone,” Erasmus added.

Kwagga Smith will win his 50th cap for South Africa against Scotland. | SNS Group

“It takes a special player who performs consistently well over a few years to reach this achievement and Kwagga has certainly done so while maintaining the same high standards at training and on the field. We are very proud of him.”

Sunday’s Scottish Gas Murrayfield clash is the first of three Tests in the UK for South Africa this month, with matches against England and Wales to follow.

Scotland v South Africa teams

Scotland: 15 Tom Jordan; 14 Blair Kinghorn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe; 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 Zander Fagerson; 4 Grant Gilchrist, 5 Scott Cummings; 6 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey. Replacements: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Jamie Ritchie; 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall.

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux; 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi; 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jaden Hendriskse; 1 Ox Nche, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 3 Thomas du Toit; 4 Eben Etzebeth (capt.), 5 Franco Mostert; 6 Marco van Staden, 7 Elrigh Louw, 8 Kwagga Smith. Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 22 Jasper Wiese; 23 Grant Williams.