Stafford McDowall will captain Scotland this Saturday as they kick off their Pacific Tour with a clash against the Māori All Blacks.
He’s no stranger to the role, having led the team to a win over Portugal last November. George Horne and Josh Bayliss – fresh from winning the Premiership with Bath – are backing him up as vice-captains.
After a frustrating summer last year that saw him miss out through injury, Harry Paterson is back in the Scotland shirt for the first time since facing Uruguay. He starts on the wing, with Arron Reed on the other side.
With most of the first choices away with the Lions, there’s a heavily shuffled backline. McDowall links up with Rory Hutchinson of Northampton Saints, who’s stepped in to the squad after Matt Currie picked up an injury.
Ollie Smith is back at full-back for his first Scotland appearance since the 2023 World Cup game against Ireland.
In the half-backs, it’s a Glasgow Warriors pairing, with Adam Hastings lining up alongside Horne – Ben White has joined up with the Lions since the squad flew out.
Up front, Nathan McBeth and Patrick Harrison – who both made their debuts last summer – join Fin Richardson in the front row. Richardson toured with the squad last year but will wear the Scotland jersey for the first time in this uncapped match.
Cameron Henderson also returns – he’s back in the team after his 2023 debut against Italy, and comes in following a strong showing in Leicester’s narrow defeat to Bath in the Premiership final.
Joining Bayliss in the back row are Ben Muncaster and Andy Onyeama-Christie, who’s playing his first match for Scotland since the 2024 Six Nations.
On the bench, George Turner returns at hooker, while Alec Hepburn is back for the first time since his run in last year’s Six Nations. Will Hurd is also there as prop cover.
Max Williamson and Gregor Brown, both of whom debuted against Canada last summer, are also among the subs, covering second row and back row.
It’s an especially big day for Alexander Masibaka and Fergus Burke, who are set to make their Scotland debuts. They’re joined on the bench by Inverness‘s own Jamie Dobie, rounding out a 6-2 split.
5 responses
Excellent win for Scotland considering it was mostly a second string team although it was a very nervy ending.
Was it just me or did the TV clock go backwards at 72 minutes to 67? That would have avoided the last 5 minutes of nerve shredding viewing…maybe I just need some sleep…
Otherwise, some positives from a 2/3 string team…good to see Smith & Christie back in Scotland colours, and Hutchison showed the incredible depth we have in the centres given he is 3/4 choice…
An impressive performance and a great result. I’m guessing the Māori ABs are near to or at Test match standard, in which case it was great experience for some of our uncapped players. I was also impressed by the New Zealand commentary team, who had clearly done their research into our players.
I believe the local expectation was that the Maori ABs would have enough to get the win so it seems like a pretty good result. Great start to the tour.
PS not sure there will be a report unless I can find the game in full so feel free to use this post for comments and discussion!
For a team , missing the lions, and the first team regulars , on NZ Soil , that was a refreshing performance IMO. Could have gone well wrong, a lot of maturity closing out.