Scotland will be skippered by Sione Tuipulotu and Jamie Ritchie in the third match on the Skyscanner Americas tour match against Chile on Saturday as head coach Gregor Townsend blends from the squads who have featured in the opening matches.
The fresh pairing of co-captains are two of five players retained from the starting line-up that defeated USA 42-7 last weekend in Washington DC, with Kyles Rowe and Steyn and lock Alex Craig also selected for back-to-back Test matches.
The back row also contains blindside Gregor Brown, who debuted in the tour opener against Canada, and try-scorer against Canada Josh Bayliss. In the second row there will be a refreshingly new pairing of Craig alongside Ewan Johnson, who makes his first Scotland start.
Continuing the developmental theme, Nathan McBeth (loosehead) and Will Hurd (tighthead) also earn their first international starts and will pack down with hooker Dylan Richardson in the front row to make a front five without any of the usual suspects for the first time in a long time.
Co-captain Tuipulotu forms a centre partnership with vice-captain Kyle Steyn, who switches from the wing for the penultimate match of the tour. On the wing, the experiment with Jamie Dobie as winger slash scrum-half cover continues. It’s a great option when you are on tour but would Dobie – a brilliant 9 – be considered for selection as a winger if Scotland’s full depth were available in the heat of a Six Nations?
Gus Warr, a double try-scorer on debut against Canada, has instead been named at scrum-half so you can see why Toony wanted another look; he partners the underused Ben Healy.
Glen Young, Ross Thompson, Elliot Millar Mills and Ross McCann returned home from tour this week while Ben Afshar, Rob Carmichael and Fin Richardson joined to cover the out-of-window match against Uruguay.
With Robbie Smith the final name leaving the tour, Patrick Harrison is primed for a Scotland debut, the hooker listed as one of five forward replacements alongside Pierre Schoeman and Javan Sebastian, second row Max Williamson and Scotland captain Rory Darge.
Adam Hastings, Stafford McDowall and Matt Currie provide a Centre-centric bench option as the tour winds further down the South American continent towards the season’s end.
Scotland: Kyle Rowe, Jamie Dobie, Kyle Steyn, Sione Tuipulotu, Arron Reed, Ben Healy, Gus Warr; Nathan McBeth, Dylan Richardson, Will Hurd, Alex Craig, Ewan Johnson, Gregor Brown, Jamie Ritchie, Josh Bayliss.
Replacements: Patrick Harrison, Pierre Schoeman, Javan Sebastian, Max Williamson, Rory Darge, Adam Hastings, Stafford McDowall, Matt Currie.
The post Fresh pairings for Scotland with 10 changes to face Chile appeared first on Scottish Rugby Blog.
