Scotland's team is stronger than I anticipated - this Fiji match will be good fun

Gregor Townsend is in the habit of making some surprise selections, and he has named a stronger starting XV than I expected for the Fiji match, given that next Saturday's is against the world champions South Africa is unquestionably the most important of this year's Autumn Internationals.

Fiji are always formidable and capable of brilliant and inventive play. On the other hand, this match being outside the international window, so they are missing at least half-a-dozen of their probably first choice players.

The Scotland pack certainly looks like the one Gregor would hope to field against the Springboks, and one can only hope they come through this match unscathed, all the more so because our reserve strength up front looks weaker than behind the scrum. For the same reason, we are without stand-off Finn Russell, fly-half Blair Kinghorn and Ben White, who has been the favoured scrum-half for the last couple of years.

Even so, this looks like a back division capable of scoring tries against anyone. The centres, Sione Tuipolutu and Huw Jones, have been in sublime form for Glasgow, the newly-appointed captain having been exceptional against the Stormers in Stellenbosch last week, and the back three of Kyle Rowe, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merve are all prolific try-scorers.

Duhan van Der Merwe during a Scotland training session. | SNS Group / SRU

Graham and Van der Merwe have some 50 international tries between them and Rowe with his alertness and blistering pace is a delight to watch. Ven der Merwe has been in surprisingly lacklustre form for Edinburgh, so much so indeed that some are questioning his selection. It seems ridiculous to question his selection, as a few have done, and it is probable that he has been infected by Edinburgh's mostly dismal form. All the same, for the first time since he can into the Scotland team, questions are being asked about him and his selection. This will surely serve as a spur.

Assuming that Russell and (probably) White will be the half-backs against South Africa next week, Adam Hastings and Ali Price are probably not everyone's choice for the Fiji game. Hastings because the newly qualified for Scotland Tom Jordan has been in brilliant form for Glasgow where he is Franco Smith's preferred 10, and Price because, for all his service to Scotland over a good few years, many now regard him as yesterday's man.

I have always been one of his admirers, but reluctantly thought that he was in decline last season after he was shipped from Glasgow along the M8 to Edinburgh. But even in this disappointing Edinburgh team, he has been looking more like the scrum-half who forced his way into the Lions test side in South Africa and a couple of weeks ago he was outstanding in Edinburgh's only convincing win so far against South African opposition when he was named man of the match.

It's not unknown for players to enjoy an Indian summer after they seemed to be past their best, and he may be enjoying that now. He has always been a very good reader of the game, and he deserves this chance to prove that he is still a contender for the nine position in the spring. That said, young Jamie Dobie - on the bench today - is surely the scrum-half with the brightest future, and it will be interesting to see how things go when he and Jordan come on in the second half, probably well before the hour-mark.

As for the forwards. this looks as if it may ptrove to be the best packs Scotland have had for some time, even if there there is no towering line-out player like Richie Gray. There is nobody in the eight who invites doubts, and there is no lack of experience while at the same time there is nobody who seems near the wrong side of the hill.

Zander Fagerson is now surely the best tight-head Scotland have had in the professional era, while the backrow of the younger Fagerson (Matt), Jack Dempsey and Rory Darge have been terrific for Glasgow. I am a great believer of the fact that the trio play together for Glasgow as well as Scotland is a bonus. It is not always recognised that continuity upfront is as important as it is behind the scrum, even if its value is less immediately apparent.

In view of the fact that this same scrum will, barring injuries, probably play in three of these autumn matches, missing only the one against Portugal, we should benefit from their common experience, their knowledge of each other. Comparing the professional game of today and the old amateur one is not always very useful, so much having changed. Nevertheless it is worth remarking that in both the 1984 and 1990 Grand Slams ... almost the same XV.

Glasgow Warriors' Rory Darge (L) in action. | SNS Group

In these in days before replacements at will were permitted, changes were made in these Scotland teams only on account of injuries of which there were happily few. Likewise, when Glasgow won last season's URC championship, Franco Smith fielded the same team - barring an injury - in all three knock-out games.

Fiji matches are almost always good fun. Let's hope for entertainment as well as victory. Actually, with this team entertainments and victory go together.

A final thought in these days ... when the authorities speak of looking for a faster game, let us hope there are few time-consuming interventions from the TMO. Nothing slows a match up more than lengthy conversations between the referee on the field and the Television Match Official.