Finn Russell, Mark Bennett and John Hardie all return to the starting team to face Samoa on Saturday (k.o 2.30pm). Russell has been passed fit from an ankle injury while Hardie has completed return-to-play protocols following a head knock, as have Ross Ford and Matt Scott.
Elsewhere in the pack Ryan Wilson and Ford swap bench spots with Josh Strauss and Fraser Brown respectively. In the back three, the strongest attacking combination of Seymour, Hogg and Maitland will start together for the first time this World Cup while veteran Sean Lamont could win his 100th cap from the bench.
The boilerhouse once again features the Gray brothers with both Jonny and more surprisingly perhaps Richie featuring high on the list of the tournament’s top tacklers. Workrate indeed.
All in all it looks like something close to Scotland’s strongest current team – arguments about scrum-half aside.
Might we finally see Vern Cotter’s Plan A?
Scotland team to face Samoa: Hogg, Seymour, Bennett, Scott, Maitland, Russell, Laidlaw (captain); Dickinson, Ford, Nel, R Gray, J Gray, Wilson, Hardie, Denton
Replacements: Brown, Reid, Welsh, Swinson, Strauss, Pyrgos, Horne, Lamont