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Nine changes for Scotland versus Fiji 14 weeks after successful tour

Scotland players celebrate a Duhan van der Merwe (right) try on their last outing versus Uruguay in July (Photo by Ernesto Ryan/Getty Images)

Gregor Townsend has named a Scotland team to host Fiji on Saturday that has nine changes from the XV that started in the final summer tour win over Uruguay. The Scots were 31-19 winners in Montevideo on July 27, an historic day when Duhan van der Merwe became his country’s all-time record try scorer.

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Fourteen weeks on from that successful completion of an unbeaten four-match tour of the Americas, the Scots have now confirmed their side for their Autumn Nations Series opener, a selection with four changes to the backs and five in the forwards.

Kyle Rowe, Huw Jones and van der Merwe are the three retained backs who will line out in the back line with Darcy Graham, new skipper Sione Tuipulotu, Adam Hastings and Ali Price.

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The three retentions in the pack are Ewan Ashman, Matt Fagerson and Rory Darge, who will be supported on this occasion by Pierre Schoeman, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Scott Cummings and Jack Dempsey.

A Scottish Rugby Union statement read: “After being named as Scotland captain last week, Sione Tuipulotu will lead the team out at Scottish Gas Murrayfield for the first time this weekend against Fiji. With mostly just home-based players available due to the match taking place outside the international window, Sione will partner Huw Jones in the centre.

Team Form

Last 5 Games

5
Wins
4
5
Streak
1
38
Tries Scored
24
189
Points Difference
60
4/5
First Try
3/5
3/5
First Points
2/5
5/5
Race To 10 Points
2/5

“On the wings, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe are named. In van der Merwe’s last match for Scotland he became the country’s top try scorer after touching down against Uruguay. After an impressive Guinness Six Nations earlier this year and scoring two tries against Chile on summer tour, Kyle Rowe is named at full-back.

“Ali Price makes his first start for Scotland since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final group game against Ireland, pairing up with former Glasgow Warriors teammate Adam Hastings.

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“In the forwards, the familiar sight of Zander Fagerson and Pierre Schoeman combine at prop, with Ewan Ashman starting at hooker. Grant Gilchrist and Scott Cummings link up in the second row. A URC-winning back row will start the match with Glasgow Warriors’ Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge and Jack Dempsey all named.

“Dylan Richardson is eligible to play the fixture following approval from his club side and he has been named on the bench, aiming to make his second appearance at Scottish Gas Murrayfield following his debut in 2021. D’arcy Rae is back in the squad after impressing for Edinburgh and will look to add to his first cap that was gained in 2019 against Ireland.

“Max Williamson played in all four Skyscanner summer tour matches and will be looking to add to his tally from the bench. Gregor Brown and Jamie Dobie were also heavily involved on tour and they are selected in the match day 23 along with Glasgow Warriors centre Stafford McDowall.

“Now eligible for Scotland on residency grounds, Tom Jordan will be eying his Scotland debut having been on form for Glasgow Warriors, featuring in every game of Warriors’ URC-winning 2023/24 campaign and making his 50th appearance in the final.”

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Scotland (vs Fiji, Saturday)
15. Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (7 caps)
14. Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby (39)
13. Huw Jones – Glasgow Warriors (50)
12. Sione Tuipulotu – Glasgow Warriors (27) (captain)
11. Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby (41)
10. Adam Hastings – Glasgow Warriors (30)
9. Ali Price – Edinburgh Rugby (67)
1. Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby (34)
2. Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (19)
3. Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (67)
4. Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby (72)
5. Scott Cummings – Glasgow Warriors (39)
6. Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (47)
7. Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors (22) (vice-captain)
8. Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors (20)

Replacements:
16. Dylan Richardson – The Sharks (3)
17. Rory Sutherland – Glasgow Warriors (33)
18. D’Arcy Rae – Edinburgh Rugby (1)
19. Max Williamson – Glasgow Warriors (4)
20. Gregor Brown – Glasgow Warriors (3)
21. Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors (6)
22. Tom Jordan – Glasgow Warriors (uncapped)
23. Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (5)

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F
Flankly 1 hour ago
Four talking points after a 'bonkers' England loss to Australia

On the face of it the England rush defence seemed to be worse this week than last. I thought the line speed last week was very effective against NZ, and that the NZ tries had to be very well worked to get around or through. But in fact the apparent deterioration of the England defence may have been more about Schmidt learning from the NZ game. Australia were quick about getting the ball outside of the midfield defenders, and England struggled to cover it effectively. Suaailii was a key element of this. The Boks are going to test this next week, and if England don't address it we should see some Bok tries out wide.


The England attack was as expected, ie fairly ineffective, per last week. Smith is the exception. His magic was behind almost everything England did on attack. While it's great for England to have a player like this, the question is what will happen when an opponent targets him to minimize his impact. Can England win a game with their Plan B? We saw what happened in the 2019 RWC final when the Boks shut down George Ford.


More of a surprise was the England forward pack. This ought to be the area in which Bothwick excels. It is a traditional England strength, and Borthwick was a forward himself. And there is a lot of experience in that pack. So I thought Australia might be overwhelmed up front. But that's not really what happened. It's not obvious that the England pack is any more than average at the moment.


My conclusion this week is similar to last, namely that England has not solved its coaching problem. It looks very different for NZ and Australia - they both have coaching results that are looking quite good.

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