Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has made three changes to his starting XV for this Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Wales at the Principality Stadium at 14 15.
All the changes come in the forwards with Stuart McInally taking over at hooker from Fraser Brown, who in turn drops to the bench.
Like Brown, Scott Cummings also move to the replacements as Sam Skinner takes a spot in the second-row and lastly Magnus Bradbury replaces Nick Haining at No 8, with Haining currently ill.
Elsewhere it’s as you where from the team that defeated France last weekend with Rory Sutherland and Zander Fagerson either side of McInally in the front-row, while Skinner joins Grant Gilchrist in the engine-room.
Jamie Ritchie continues as blindside-flanker, with Hamish Watson on the openside and Bradbury completes the pack from No 8.
Ali Price remains at scrum-half, with Adam Hastings at fly-half, and they have Sam Johnson and Chris Harris outside them in the midfield pairing.
Blair Kinghorn is once again on the left-wing, with two-try hero from last weekend Sean Maitland continuing on the right and Stuart Hogg captains the side from full-back.
There is a mix of experience and youth on the bench with the likes of Brown and Cummings being joined by Matt Fagerson and Kyle Steyn among the replacements.
Speaking ahead of the game Townsend admitted he is hoping that his team can build on their win last week.
“We set out this season to improve our consistency over a run of five tough games, something we have done well so far. We’ve stayed in the fight in every game, which is a credit to how hard the players have worked in training and during the Tests. It’s also been encouraging to see how well the players have grown together and have taken on board the input from new coaches, Steve (Tandy) and Pieter (de Villiers), who have done a great job in their first season with the team. We have huge respect for the Welsh team, who narrowly missed out on a World Cup final a few months ago. They are well-coached and have some outstanding players. It will be a fantastic occasion and one last opportunity to play to our potential in this championship,” he said.
Scotland will hope that they can pull off a first win on Welsh soil for 18 years on Saturday and know victory will see them finish above their rivals in the table. However, they will face a Welsh team desperate to avoid a fourth loss in a row.
Check Out the Full 23-Man Squad Below.
Starting XV:
- Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) – 76 caps
- Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 48 caps
- Chris Harris (Gloucester) – 18 caps
- Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
- Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 21 caps
- Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors) – 20 caps
- Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 32 caps
- Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh) – 7 caps
- Stuart McInally (Edinburgh) – 37 caps
- Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 29 caps
- Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) – 7 caps
- Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 42 caps
- Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) – 18 caps
- Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 32 caps
- Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh) – 14 caps
Replacements:
- Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 50 caps
- Allan Dell (London Irish) – 32 caps
- Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 38 caps
- Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps
- Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps
- George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
- Duncan Weir (Worcester Warriors) – 28 caps
- Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) – 1 cap
