Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend makes six changes to his starting XV to face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday in the Autumn Nations Cup. Jaco van der Walt, Duncan Taylor, Darcy Graham, Rory Sutherland, Zander Fageson, Blade Thompson come in to start. Flanker Hamish Watson is out injured.
Thursday 3 December 2020 13:38, UK
Edinburgh fly-half Jaco van der Walt will make his Scotland debut in Saturday's Autumn Nations Cup clash against Ireland in Dublin.
Head coach Gregor Townsend has made six changes for the Aviva Stadium clash, with captain Stuart Hogg set to win his 80th cap.
Saracens centre Duncan Taylor will make his first Scotland start since the 2019 World Cup for the third-fourth place play-off encounter.
Flanker Hamish Watson is missing from the matchday 23, having come off early with a potential injury in the 22-15 loss to France at Murrayfield on November 22.
Edinburgh winger Darcy Graham returns to the side and lines up with fellow Edinburgh flyer Duhan van de Merwe to complete the back line with full-back Hogg.
Edinburgh loosehead prop Rory Sutherland returns to front row duties, packing down with tighthead Zander Fagerson alongside hooker Fraser Brown.
The back row sees a positional change and a new combination with Edinburgh flanker Jamie Ritchie moving to the openside and Scarlets' Blade Thomson on the blindside at number six.
Glasgow back Huw Jones and London Irish flanker Blair Cowan are set to make their first appearances of the autumn campaign from the bench.
Saracens wing Sean Maitland will win his 50th Scotland cap should he step off the bench.
"We have been impressed with Jaco over the time he has trained with us and we're excited to see him take the next step into international Test match rugby," said Townsend on Thursday.
"It will be a tough challenge over in Ireland, given the quality of our opposition and how they will be looking to end 2020 on a positive note.
"Being able to bring back Rory Sutherland after his recent injury is a real boost, and it's great to involve Blair (Cowan) and Huw (Jones) for the first time this season.
"If they get on the field, 39 players will have had opportunities to play over the past five games, which underlines the current player depth throughout Scottish rugby and shows the competition there is for places now in this Scotland team.
"We've been together for the past two months and from a coaching perspective it has been a real joy seeing the group come together and work so hard to improve both individually and collectively.
"We are looking forward to facing Ireland in what will be an opportunity to continue our progress away from home once again."
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg (c), 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Ali Price; 1 Rory Sutherland, 2 Fraser Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Scott Cummings, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 Blade Thomson, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 8 Matt Fagerson
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Sean Maitland.
