Al Strokosch: Back at six
Scotland coach Andy Robinson has made five changes to his starting line-up for Saturday's Test against Tonga in Aberdeen.
Robinson has also made four changes on the bench as Scotland seek to protect their 100% winning record at their northern citadel in front of an expected capacity crowd.
The changes in the run-on team sees Max Evans return at outside centre to the stadium where he won his first cap four years ago. He replaces Nick De Luca who is on the bench.
Henry Pyrgos, who scored Scotland's try in their 21-10 loss to South Africa last weekend, is handed the starting jersey at scrum-half for the first time instead of Mike Blair, while Scott Lawson will begin his first international since August 2011 at hooker rather than Ross Ford.
At lock, Alastair Kellock gets the nod over Jim Hamilton to win his 47th cap, while in the back-row Alasdair Strokosch is restored from the calf injury that prevented his involvement against the Springboks.
On the bench the uncapped Edinburgh lock Grant Gilchrist is nominated in a Scotland match-day 23 for the first time, as is the uncapped 20-year-old Bath fly-half Tom Heathcote.
At the other end of the experience scale, substitute scrum-half Rory Lawson is back on Scotland duty for the first time since the 2011 World Cup match against Argentina.
"We will not be among the top eight seeds for the 2015 World Cup draw, so this weekend I'm looking at giving a number of players an opportunity to put their hand up for selection for next year," said Robinson.
"This weekend we have to put together an 80 minutes performance and build on the positive parts of our games that we showed in the last 30 minutes against South Africa and the second half against New Zealand.
"International rugby is about pressure and it's important that you convert your pressure into points and when you are under pressure that you are able to absorb it as opposed to conceding points as cheaply as we have done."
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Max Evans, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 David Denton, 7 Kelly Brown (c), 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 John Barclay, 21 Rory Lawson, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Nick De Luca.
Date: Saturday 24 November
Venue: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 15:00
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland) and Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Television match official: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)
Comments
melkdave says...
Have to say i do prefer M.Evans to N.deLuca at OC myself,i feel his defence is better,and he has just a tad more pace.But the best news is R.Ford being dropped from the team 23 entirely,he has been a liabilty for a few years now imo.Also have to say nice for H.Pyrgos ,to be given a start,M.Blair to me is only a good SH and not as good as Laidlaw even..Also WOW T,Heathcote straight into the team ,i know his good,,lets hope he handles the pressure and faster pace ,as i always thought he would be in the England set up come 2015 .But no complaints ,he qualifies for Scotland ,and is entiteled to follow his dream asap ,as much as the next man/person.So comon Scotland
Posted 20:57 21st November 2012
scot_rsa says...
Doesn't seem to be a load of new players getting an opportunity, rather some we've seen before although they are strong performers. Would rather see MacInally, Murchie, Fusaro and Dunbar named and given a chance. Maybe injured? Not fussed about top 8 and don't believe Robinson was. RWC is all about the draw and Scotland can beat the second seeded nations on a given day. We need success in the 6N, end of story.
Posted 20:37 21st November 2012