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Scotland Head Coach Gregor Townsend has made a total of seven changes to the starting side for the final Autumn Nations Series match against Japan at BT Murrayfield.
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Stuart Hogg begins at full-back for his 88th cap, moving him into fourth place on the all-time Scotland male list.
Sam Johnson of Glasgow Warriors starts at inside centre, while Chris Harris of Gloucester starts at outside him at 13.
Darcy Graham of Edinburgh and Duhan Van Der Merwe of Worcester Warriors have been chosen to fill the two wing positions.
For the Japan encounter, Townsend makes five changes to the pack from the starting XV that faced South Africa on Saturday. Jamie Bhatti of Glasgow Warriors makes his first Scotland start since August 2019, when he played against France in a pre-World Cup match. George Turner, who has recovered from an injury suffered against Australia to pack down at hooker, joins him in the front row. At tight-head, Zander Fagerson completes an all-Glasgow front row.
Josh Bayliss, who made his debut off the bench against Australia two weeks ago, makes his first start for Scotland at number eight in a new-look back-row.
Edinburgh flankers Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson have been named Vice-Captain and will resume their blindside and openside positions from the Wallabies triumph.
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Scott Cummings of Glasgow Warriors makes his first Scotland appearance of the season, returning from injury to partner Edinburgh Rugby’s Grant Gilchrist in the second row.
Two players included in the substitutes for the Japan match, Scarlets prop Javan Sebastian and Cell C Sharks back-row forward Dylan Richa, might make their Scotland debuts.
“We have had a positive week as a squad and want to close out our Autumn Nations Series campaign with an improved performance against a Japan side we expect to challenge us from the outset on Saturday,” said Head Coach, Gregor Townsend. “This group of players have another opportunity to represent their country this weekend and show the progress we have made as a group over the past four weeks.
“You could say the Springboks were dominant, I would probably disagree."#SCOvRSA https://t.co/WKlc1cSIHB
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 13, 2021
“The Autumn Series has been a great opportunity for us to test the depth of our squad and also build on the performances of our Six Nations campaign.
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“Last Saturday’s defeat was a valuable – if painful – learning experience for us, and we’ve been encouraged by how well the squad has trained this week in response to the loss against South Africa.
“We know how much a winning performance can lift our nation and we will be giving everything for our supporters at BT Murrayfield on Saturday.”
SCOTLAND TEAM:
15. Stuart Hogg
14. Darcy Graham
13. Chris Harris
12. Sam Johnson
11. Duhan van der Merwe
10. Finn Russell
9. Ali Price
1. Jamie Bhatti
2. George Turner
3. Zander Fagerson
4. Scott Cummings
5. Grant Gilchrist
6. Jamie Ritchie
7. Hamish Watson
8. Josh Bayliss
It was a painful November 7, to say the least, for Scotland's George Turner#Scotland #SCOvJAP #AutumnNationsSeries #Japanhttps://t.co/kGYKDeCXuF
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 17, 2021
REPLACEMENTS:
16. Stuart McInally
17. Pierre Schoeman
18. Javan Sebastian
19. Sam Skinner
20. Dylan Richardson
21. Matt Fagerson
22. George Horne
23. Blair Kinghorn
Comments on RugbyPass
We had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
60 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
60 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
60 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
60 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
60 Go to comments