Scotland forced into late change ahead of Boks clash

Scotland have been forced into a late squad change ahead of Saturday’s Nations Championship clash with South Africa at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

In-form lock Alex Samuel was ruled out with a knee injury.

The Glasgow Warriors second-row had been named among the replacements for the Test, but will now miss out. Fellow Glasgow lock Max Williamson has been drafted onto the bench as Scotland’s only change to the matchday 23.

The 6’7, 120kg Williamson provides cover in the second row and earns a place in the squad after impressing for both club and country over the past year, starting in two of his four Guinness Six Nations apperances earlier in the year.

Head coach Gregor Townsend otherwise sticks with the side named earlier in the week as Scotland look to finish their summer campaign on a high against the world champion Springboks.

“I think we’re a much different team now,” skipper Sione Tuipulotu said when asked about the 32-15 to the Boks at Murrayfield in November 2024.

“I would like to think we’ve evolved into the team that we wanted to become. We saw bits of that in the Six Nations and I was really proud of the performance last week away from home against Argentina.

“I think the games we’ve played over the last 12 months have shown we’re a little bit different from when we played them last at Murrayfield.

“I would like to think our confidence is a little bit quieter and to keep it in the changing room,” he said. “There’s no point talking about anything like that before the game as you have to go out there and play the world champions in their backyard, and what will be, will be.”

Updated Scotland team to play South Africa:
15 Kyle Rowe
14 Kyle Steyn
13 Rory Hutchinson
12 Sione Tuipulotu
11 Jamie Dobie
10 Finn Russell
9 Ben White
1 Pierre Schoeman
2 Ewan Ashman
3 Zander Fagerson
4 Gregor Brown
5 Scott Cummings
6 Matt Fagerson
7 Rory Darge (captain)
8 Jack Dempsey

Replacements:
16 Gregor Hiddleston
17 Rory Sutherland
18 Will Hurd
19 Max Williamson
20 Josh Bayliss
21 Magnus Bradbury
22 Tom Jordan
23 Stafford McDowall