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One new cap to start as Scotland make 11 changes for Italy rematch
By Liam Heagney
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.
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.”
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
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Latest Comments
"fl's idea, if I can speak for him to speed things up, was for it to be semifinalists first, Champions Cup (any that somehow didn't make a league semi), then Challenge's semi finalists (which would most certainly have been outside their league semi's you'd think), then perhaps the quarter finalists of each in the same manner. I don't think he was suggesting whoever next performed best in Europe but didn't make those knockouts (like those round of 16 losers), I doubt that would ever happen."
That's not quite my idea.
For a 20 team champions cup I'd have 4 teams qualify from the previous years champions cup, and 4 from the previous years challenge cup. For a 16 team champions cup I'd have 3 teams qualify from the previous years champions cup, and 1 from the previous years challenge cup.
"The problem I mainly saw with his idea (much the same as you see, that league finish is a better indicator) is that you could have one of the best candidates lose in the quarters to the eventual champions, and so miss out for someone who got an easier ride, and also finished lower in the league, perhaps in their own league, and who you beat everytime."
If teams get a tough draw in the challenge cup quarters, they should have won more pool games and so got better seeding. My system is less about finding the best teams, and more about finding the teams who perform at the highest level in european competition.
Go to commentsWalter has been permanently psychologically damaged since his wife left him and moved in with a man from Sydney.
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