Head coach Gregor Townsend has named his matchday 23 for Scotland’s opening Six Nations encounter against Italy at Murrayfield.
With usual captain Sione Tuipulotu sidelined through injury, fly-half Finn Russell and openside flanker Rory Darge will jointly lead the side against the Azzurri as co-captains.
McDowall fills in for Tuipulotu
Meanwhile, Stafford McDowall has been given the nod to fill Tuipulotu’s void in the number 12 jumper as he links up with Glasgow Warriors teammate Huw Jones in the midfield.
Ben White will continue his partnership with Russell in the half-backs with Townsend picking a lethal back-three in the form of wingers Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe and full-back Blair Kinghorn.
Graham missed last year’s Six Nations through injury and will look to hit the ground running in 2025 after a sterling November while Van der Merwe grabbed five tries in five appearances in the tournament last year including a hat-trick against England and a brace against Wales.
Into the pack and Matt Fagerson starts at number eight and will earn his 50th Test cap for Scotland. He is joined by co-captain Darge with Jamie Ritchie completing the loose trio.
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Jonny Gray returns to Scotland colours for the first time in nearly two years and is joined by Grant Gilchrist while Dave Cherry earns his first cap for Scotland since the 2023 Rugby World Cup as he starts at hooker with the ever-present propping duo of Zander Fagerson and Pierre Schoeman either side of him.
Townsend has opted for the conventional 5-3 split on the bench with Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Will Hurd, Gregor Brown and Jack Dempsey providing cover in the pack and George Horne, Tom Jordan and Kyle Rowe in the backs.
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Scotland team v Italy
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Kyle Rowe
Date: Saturday, February 1
Venue: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 14:15 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
FPRO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
Broadcasters: BBC, France Télévisions, RTÉ, Sky Sport / TV8 (Italy), Supersport (Africa), WOWOW (Japan), Premier Sports (Pan Asia), Stan Sport (Australia), Sky NZ (New Zealand), DAZN (Canada), NBC / Peacock / FuboTV (USA)
READ MORE: Six Nations Round One: Fixtures, kick-off times, referees and global TV channels
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2025-01-30 14:25:12
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