Scotland team: Finn Russell returns as Gregor Townsend responds to the Springboks Bomb Squad with tartan equivalent
Scotland fly-half Finn Russell and head coach Gregor Townsend.
Finn Russell has returned from injury to take his place at fly-half as Scotland prepare to face the world champion Springboks this weekend.
The playmaker has not played in almost two months with a calf issue suffered in May, ruling him out of the end of Bath’s PREM campaign.
Russell also missed the Argentina clash, but the inspirational pivot has fully recovered in time for the Springboks showdown.
Scotland will go into the game with plenty of confidence following a hugely impressive 47-38 victory over Argentina last weekend, and unsurprisingly, Townsend has kept changes to a minimum.
The return of Russell is one of just three alterations to the XV. One of those is injury-enforced, with Zander Fagerson coming in for Elliot Millar Mills at tighthead, while the other sees Gregor Brown start ahead of Jonny Gray.
They remain unchanged elsewhere as Kyle Rowe, Kyle Steyn and Jamie Dobie once again combine in the back three, with captain Sione Tuipulotu and Rory Hutchinson the midfield duo.
Ben White is at scrum-half, reuniting with Russell to form the excellent half-back partnership.
Forward selection
Up front, the loose trio is unaltered as Jack Dempsey, Rory Darge and Matt Fagerson form a well-balanced back-row, while Scott Cummings is alongside Brown at lock. Hooker Ewan Ashman and loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman complete the run-on side.
Meanwhile, on the bench, Scotland have looked to fight fire with fire by selecting their own ‘Bomb Squad’ after going with a 6-2 split.
Gregor Hiddleston, Rory Sutherland and Will Hurd are the replacement front-row, while Alex Samuel and loose forward duo Josh Bayliss and Magnus Bradbury complete the forward reserves.
Townsend has opted not to name a scrum-half on the bench due to Dobie’s presence at wing, which results in George Horne being omitted.
Darcy Graham is also ousted, which means Tom Jordan and Stafford McDowall provide the backline cover.
“From a coaching perspective, we can’t wait to see our players go out there,” the Scotland head coach said. “We’ve not played a game here for so long.
“None of the 23, I believe, have played South Africa for Scotland in South Africa, and it’s the ultimate challenge, but we see it as an opportunity.
“It’s an opportunity to see where we are, to test ourselves against the best and to build on that performance last week.
“Finn was probably fit [to face Argentina] and was certainly training fully by the middle of last week, and he’s had no issues this week.
“We want to get learnings from this game with our best available team, and that’s what we believe the team is this weekend. We know the bench are going to have a big part to play, so it’s pleasing to see Tom [Jordan] get a real opportunity last week and play 60 minutes at 10.
“It’s good that we’ve got players that can really add to our game in that second half because we’ll need it.”
Scotland team to face Springboks
Scotland: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Magnus Bradbury, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Stafford McDowall
Date: Saturday, July 11
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17:40 local (16:40 BST, 15:40 GMT)
Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR)
Assistant referees: James Doleman (NZR), Andrew Brace (IRFU)
TMO: Richard Kelly (NZR)
FPRO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
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