Thursday 22 June 2017 10:21, UK
Ross Ford will become Scotland's most-capped player of all time when he lines up at hooker for the one-off Test against Fiji on Saturday.
There will also be a debut for centre Nick Grigg in Scotland's third and final Test of their summer tour.
The experienced Ford made his debut against Australia 13 years ago and will earn his 110th cap in Suva, when he will make his 88th start, which is eight short of Chris Paterson's record of 96.
Having enjoyed a fine season with Glasgow, Grigg is set to make his first ever appearance for the Scotland side alongside Duncan Taylor in the midfield, Alex Dunbar having been granted permission to leave the tour a week early.
Following last week's impressive 24-19 win over Australia, Townsend has made 12 changes to the starting line-up.
Ruaridh Jackson will make a first tour appearance at full-back and, with Finn Russell having joined the Lions tour of New Zealand, there is new half-back pairing comprising Henry Pyrgos and Pete Horne.
In the pack, Alex Allan and John Hardie will make their first appearances of the tour, with the latter to be joined in the back row by skipper John Barclay and Josh Strauss.
Townsend, said: "It's a great storyline that we have Nick making his international debut at the same time as Ross will make history and become the most capped Scot of all time.
"Ross has been an outstanding tourist, both on and off the field.
"This week he has been driving our standards and working as hard as usual to make sure we get our preparations right for what will be a very tough game.
"It's been a very good tour so far. The games have gone well with two positive results and the players have enjoyed their time together.
"It's a really strong team with a bench that can up the tempo of the game. We're looking forward to seeing them play."
Fiji sprang their own surprises when they named a side showing seven changes from the one which squeaked past Italy with an 80th-minute drop goal.
Niko Matawalu, a former crowd favourite at Glasgow, has been left out, though Leone Nakarawa, who also played in Scotland, is included in the starting line-up.
Scotland: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Henry Pyrgos; 1 Alex Allan, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Willem Nel, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 John Hardie, 7 John Barclay (c), 8 Josh Strauss.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Ryan Wilson, 22 Ali Price, 23 Greig Tonks.
