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Scotland opt for continuity with just one change to starting XV

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 08: Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend is seen at full time during the Quilter Nations Series 2025 rugby international match between Scotland and New Zealand at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on November 08, 2025 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
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Rory Darge has been promoted from the bench and handed his first start of the Quilter Nations Series against Argentina at Murrayfield this Sunday.

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The Glasgow forward was out of action for the whole of October after damaging his MCL in the opening URC game of the season.

He returned to fitness in time to take his place on the bench against the All Blacks last week and now starts at openside in a straight swap with Matt Fagerson.

Darcy Graham is set to step out in a Scotland jersey for the 50th time this weekend, and will be hoping to mark the occasion with a repeat of his hat-trick heroics when the sides last met at Murrayfield in 2022.

Duhan van der Merwe returns to the bench after being dropped last week and will resume his rivalry with Graham in the race to become Scotland’s outright record try scorer if he comes on.

Graham and van der Merwe each have 34 tries from 49 and 50 caps, respectively. Van der Merwe joins Jamie Dobie and Tom Jordan as backline cover, with Gregor Townsend going for a 5-3 split.

Scotland team to face Argentina at Murrayfield on Sunday 16 November, kick-off 3.10pm:

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15. Blair Kinghorn – Toulouse (61)
14. Darcy GrahamEdinburgh Rugby (49)
13. Rory HutchinsonNorthampton Saints (10)
12. Sione Tuipulotu – Glasgow Warriors (31) – Captain
11. Kyle Steyn – Glasgow Warriors (26)
10. Finn RussellBath Rugby (88) – Vice-Captain
9. Ben White – Toulon (30)
1. Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby (43)
2. Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (30)
3. D’arcy Rae – Edinburgh Rugby (4)
4. Scott Cummings – Glasgow Warriors (44)
5. Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby (83)
6. Gregor Brown – Glasgow Warriors (11)
7. Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors (33) Vice-Captain
8. Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors (28)

Replacements:

16. George Turner – Harlequins (48)
17. Nathan McBeth – Glasgow Warriors (4)
18. Elliot Millar Mills – Northampton Saints (10)
19. Josh Bayliss – Bath Rugby (12)
20. Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (58)
21. Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors (16)
22. Tom Jordan – Bristol Bears (10)
23. Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby (50)

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NoLongerARuck 8 minutes ago
Rugby's Greatest Rivalry deep dive - what has happened to the All Blacks’ scrum?

Alot of people have talked about how the AB's are making progress and getting closer to the Boks. Its also important to ask where the net gain has been. In 4 games under Razor the AB's attack failed dismally and struggled to score tries. The Boks outscored them comprehensively. Even so the All Blacks led for long periods in Joburg and Cape Town in 24. They lost each game by one score. They led all the way in Auckland and led for a quarter of the match in Wellington. Razors team always lost control in the final quarter of matches against the boks where the Boks bench completely overpowered them.

Under Rennie the AB's have scored plenty of tries, more than the Boks, they have rediscovered their attacking threat but they have regressed in other areas. Their scrum has totally capitulated, their lineout has been hammered, they are turning the ball over more at break down and in the tackle. They are making mistakes within their attacking template that has cost them and presented the Boks opportunities and so their defence has suffered with the Boks making hay in the last 3 games outscoring them in terms of tries and pts during that period. They have conceded 2 and 3 score leads in the last 3 matches heading into the final quarter. At Cape Town it was 16 points, Soweto 12 pts and in the US 15 pts. The Boks established control of Rennies team earlier and led for longer with AB's forced to chase games. They won the second half in Ellis Park comprehensively and the final quarters in the next 2 matches matches but little else illustrating the lack of control for the AB's.



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