By: Kamusime Barnabas
| Warm-up international: Scotland v Georgia |
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| Venue: Murrayfield Stadium Date: Friday, 23 October Kick-off: 19:30 BST |
South Africa-born duo Duhan van der Merwe and Oli Kebble will both make their Scotland debuts in Friday’s meeting with Georgia at Murrayfield.
The Edinburgh winger starts and the Glasgow Warriors prop is almost certain to make his debut from the bench after the duo qualified on residency grounds.
Glasgow hooker Fraser Brown will captain Scotland for the first time.
Finn Russell is a replacement after missing the Six Nations matches so far after a dispute with Gregor Townsend.
The Racing 92 fly-half is poised to win his 50th cap as a replacement after returning to the squad following the breach of protocol.
Adam Hastings retains the No.10 shirt and will form a half-back partnership with Ali Price, who will be a vice-captain along with Jamie Ritchie.
Glasgow’s Matt Fagerson makes his first start since August 2019 and is joined in the back row by Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson.
Harlequins’ James Lang will win his third cap at inside centre more than two years after his first appearances. He is alongside Chris Harris in midfield.
“We have taken the opportunity to select a side that reflects where our players are in terms of their game time this season, their current form, as well as the contributions they made during the Six Nations at the start of the year,” said head coach Townsend.
“We have picked as strong a squad as possible to go up against what will be a very physical and motivated opponent.”
Scotland team: Kinghorn; Graham; Harris, Lang; Van der Merwe; Hastings; Price; Sutherland, Brown (capt), Z Fagerson; Toolis, Cummings; Ritchie, Watson, M Fagerson.
Substitutes: McInally, Kebble, Berghan, Harley, Haining, Du Preez, G Horne, Russell.
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