Scotland team: Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe in from the cold as Gregor Townsend makes five changes for Wales clash

Scotland boss Gregor Townsend has made five changes to his starting line-up for Saturday’s Six Nations Test with Wales in Cardiff, with backline stars Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe set to make their first appearances in this year’s Championship.

The experienced backline duo missed Scotland’s opening matches against Italy and England but have been called up to the run-on side alongside Dave Cherry, Max Williamson and Matt Fagerson.

Meanwhile, Josh Bayliss and Grant Gilchrist complete seven alterations to the matchday 23 after last weekend’s 31-20 triumph over the Red Rose at Murrayfield with both named among the replacements.

Tom Jordan to start on the bench

Kinghorn comes into Scotland‘s starting XV at full-back in place of Tom Jordan, who drops down to the bench, while Van der Merwe replaces the injured Jamie Dobie on the left wing.

They are joined in the back three by Kyle Steyn, who won the official man-of-the-match award against England, while skipper Sione Tuipulotu will once again partner with Huw Jones in midfield.

Townsend has also opted to keep the same half-back pairing of Ben White and Finn Russell to take on Wales.

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Amongst the forwards, experienced campaigner Cherry is preferred to George Turner as the starting hooker while Williamson and Fagerson have been promoted to lock and number eight respectively.

This, after starting back-row duo Jamie Ritchie and Jack Dempsey were ruled out due to injuries.

That means Williamson will join Scott Cummings in the second-row, where he replaces Gregor Brown, who has been shifted to the blindside flank as Ritchie’s replacement.

Cherry is joined in Scotland’s front-row by Nathan McBeth and Zander Fagerson at loosehead and tighthead prop, respectively.

Among the replacements, Pierre Schoeman and Elliot Millar Mills continue to front-row cover alongside Turner while Gilchrist returns to the squad as the back-up lock with Bayliss included as the replacement back-row.

Jordan, George Horne and Darcy Graham complete the matchday 23 as backline options.

Scotland team to face Wales

Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Darcy Graham

Date: Saturday, February 21
Kick-off: 16:40 GMT
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (RFU), Adam Leal (RFU)
TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)

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