Gregor Townsend has made three adjustments to the team for the upcoming Six Nations clash against England at Murrayfield.
Blair Kinghorn, Kyle Steyn, and Jamie Ritchie return to the lineup after missing the match against France. Kinghorn is set for his first championship appearance this year after an injury, while Steyn was away due to the birth of his child.
Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones remain the centres and Finn Russell and Ben White continue their excellent partnership at half-back.
Ritchie is given a chance for redemption in the back row after missing out altogether in the loss to France and lines up alongside Darge and Dempsey, with Andy Christie once again offering versatility from the bench.
The rest of the bench is unchanged from the previous game.
The absent Matt Fagerson and Richie Gray aside the team looks very similar to the one that took on Wales and dominated for large parts, but will face a stern test against an England side short of identity but not lacking in confidence. In 2024 Scotland have plenty of identity but are still, as always lacking that killer execution that they will hope clicks against the Auld Enemy.
England themselves will be without Alex Mitchell at scrum-half but have chosen not to use Finn Russell’s in form Bath half-back partner Ben Spencer in favour of Danny Care (Spencer is on the bench).
Overall they have made 5 changes from the side that faced Wales but left out Freddie Steward and Manu Tuilagi altogether.
Where do you see the game being won and lost?
Scotland: Blair Kinghorn, Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell (capt), Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Scott Cummings, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge (capt), Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Alec Hepburn, Elliot Millar-Mills, Sam Skinner, Andy Christie, George Horne, Ben Healy, Cameron Redpath.
England: George Furbank, Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Danny Care; Ellis Genge, Jamie George (capt), Dan Cole, Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Ethan Roots, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-Smith, Ben Spencer, Fin Smith, Immanuel Feyi -Waboso.
23 responses
I don’t know how Ritchie has suddenly jumped ahead of Christie for a starting berth.
Christie for Ritchie and Steyn for Healy, I think, with Rowe starting.
Otherwise, good team
Baffled Ritchie is back in.
The team is largely pleasing however.
Do think we are missing a trick not having Bradbury in the squad. Christie surely starts ahead of Ritchie in that team also. Would love to see Bradbury on the bench to come on for a tiring Dempsey.
Pressure is on for Toonie, losing this is a bit of a mini disaster…
Ive never been an advocate of hoping a team i support gets beaten to militate change in the coaching staff but Townsend has pushed me closer than anyone before.
Matt Williams, Frank Hadden??
No because there was nothing in the tank then. Now it feels like we are masters of our own downfall and Toony is the orchestrator.
Is Matt Fagerson injured or dropped?
Bit harsh on Matt Fagerson I would say. Not getting the logic around Andy Christie either, if he was considered a better bet than Ritchie last week then what has changed so drastically for Ritchie to jump straight back into the starting 15? Not that I have anything against Jamie Ritchie, a quality player and obviously plenty of experience but just has been a bit out of sorts recently. Maybe I should take Toonies comments at face value and he has sorted himself out mentally.
No offence to young Harry Patterson who had a sterling debut but glad to see Kinghorn and Steyn back in. I like Steyn, doesn’t get the head line stuff like VDM or Darcy Graham but is a classy player, touch of the Sean Maitland about him, rarely makes mistakes and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time.
Agree on Steyn. He’s very good in the air and is an all round solid player. He also has captaincy experience with Glasgow and so it looks like Toonie is banking on his experienced leaders (including former captain Ritchie) delivering the goods in a game that will make or break our 6N. Losing doesn’t bear thinking about because our best case will be two wins if we don’t beat England on Saturday.
Steyn brings stability , composure and maturity. He can find his way through traffic, always makes ground.
I am not a kinghorn fan, not that he does much wrong, and has been involved in some great moments, he has put in a few try saving tackles as I recall. I have no problem with him being there other than questioning if he is match fit.
We are now seeing various stand in’s at 15 and TBH, they all bring something to the jersey. It has been a revelation to see such variety taking on the role , with very little detriment over the incumbent.
We have depth, there is really not much between any of them.
Kind of what I expected, save for the return of Ritchie, but that’s not intended as a compliment to Toony.
Good luck to the 23 on Saturday.
I don’t know enough to question Toony ‘s individual player judgement, but his bench logic is baffling.
Assume Healy is a better 10 than Kinghorn. But Healy is only getting on if Finn gets hurt. The chances of that are, I don’t know 5%? Is the very slim chance of a debatable marginal gain at 10 preferable to a sixth forward or Kyle Rowe on the bench?
Our bench is pretty light looking, Skinner is not the most physical while the reserve TH wasn’t given game time vs France,
If ever there was evidence needed of GT’s selection policy based on favouritism over form then the choice of Ritchie over Christie is a reminder. Ritchie shouldnt even be in the 23. What is the point of bringing Bradbury in if he is not even getting a sniff of a bench position .
I worry about our 2nd row and front row replacements. English back row looks more powerful as well.
I’m expecting a close game where we do our best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory…
The line-out concerns me. England,Itoji especially, are good at disrupting opposition line outs
bit worried about this one, tbh – we should win but our ability to muck things up a big worry!
Christie did OK v France and have to admit don’t watch English rugby but Ritchie is excellent at getting turnovers and I reckon this is exactly why he’s been chosen, I surmise England don’t really know their preferred playing style and getting Finn in space should see us win.
We do have an issue with props, not sure why Nel isn’t in squad. The other side of the scrum looks better with Schoeman Sutherland McBeth and Boan Venter (before long).
Shame Oli Kebble seems superfluous
Looking forward to seeing some highballs on Furbank, he’s no where near Steward, odd decision giving Finn’s kicking. Seems Engkand want to run….. well suits us. Let’s put 20 points on them. Jones to score in first 5 mins…?
Slade and, in particular, Laurence is a hell of a midfield.
Second only to Jones or Tui or Redpath.
The difference will be the halfbacks ability ro release them. This really is Finn v Ford.
On Scotland v England…
Been impressed with the under 20s thus far. Narrow defeats but no hammerings & some real standouts in that team now.
Set piece not great but sounds familiar doesn’t it.
Future is brighter than we think…
The issue is how good Ireland look. We really really could do with taking a leaf out of their book. As much as it pains me to say. Their u20s are absolutely streets ahead. As is their senior team.
Time to bring back Marcus Smith