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One new cap to start as Scotland make 11 changes for Italy rematch
Gregor Townsend has named a team to face Italy this Saturday that shows 11 changes from the XV that defeated the Azzurri 19 weeks ago in the final round of the Guinness Six Nations. The Scots won that Murrayfield match 26-14 to finish the tournament in third place, but just four players from that outing will be repeat starters when they host Italy again this weekend in their opening Summer Nations Series match ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
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Full-back Ollie Smith, winger Kyle Steyn, hooker George Turner and second row Sam Skinner are the four players retained by Townsend as he tests the depth of his squad with the countdown now on towards the finals in France which open with a September 10 clash versus holders South Africa in Marseille.
Back row Rory Darge will skipper a team that offers Test debuts for the starting centre Stafford McDowall and the replacement second row Cameron Henderson.
An SRU statement read: “McDowall has previously made appearances for Scotland U18 and U20 and Henderson, who was born in Hong Kong but qualifies to play for Scotland through his Scottish dad, also featured for the national age-grade teams.
“In the pack, loosehead prop Rory Sutherland has been selected along with tighthead Murphy Walker, with George Turner starting at hooker. Sam Skinner and Scott Cummings come into the second row, with blindside flanker Luke Crosbie and No8 Matt Fagerson joining Darge in the back row.
“Edinburgh’s new signing Ben Healy, who made his first appearance for Scotland during the final 2023 Guinness Six Nations match against Italy earlier this year, starts at stand-off alongside Ali Price at scrum-half. The rest of the backs see Kyle Steyn and Darcy Graham line up on the wings, joined by Chris Harris and debutant McDowell in the centre. Ollie Smith completes the starting 15 at full back having played in the most recent win over Italy in March.
“The replacement bench contains a five-three split with Stuart McInally, Jamie Bhatti, Javan Sebastian, Henderson and Josh Bayliss in place to cover the forwards, and Jamie Dobie, Blair Kinghorn and Cameron Redpath named to bolster the backs.”
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Scotland (vs Italy, Saturday):
15. Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
14. Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) 33 caps
13. Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, vice-captain) 42 caps
12. Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
11. Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 10 caps
10. Ben Healy (Edinburgh Rugby) 1 cap
9. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) 61 caps
1. Rory Sutherland (unattached) 23 caps
2. George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 35 caps
3. Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors) 2 caps
4. Sam Skinner (Edinburgh Rugby, vice-captain) 25 caps
5. Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 25 caps
6. Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) 4 caps
7. Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors, captain) 7 caps
8. Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 33 caps
Replacements:
16. Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) 47 caps
17. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) 29 caps
18. Javan Sebastian (Edinburgh Rugby) 3 caps
19. Cameron Henderson (Leicester Tigers) uncapped
20. Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby) 3 caps
21. Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors) 1 cap
22. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 43 caps
23. Cameron Redpath (Bath Rugby) 5 caps
Comments on RugbyPass
The Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
2 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
2 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
2 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
2 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
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