Rugby-Scotland pick strong team to take on Australia

FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - International Test - Scotland v Tonga - Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain - October 30, 2021 Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend before the match Action Images via Reuters/Ed Sykes

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Scotland picked a near full strength side to face Australia in Sunday’s test at Murrayfield, boosted by the inclusion of players from clubs in England and France who were not available for last weekend’s test win over Tonga.

Coach Gregor Townsend kept faith in the team which ended this year’s Six Nations with a win against France in Paris, with only prop Rory Sutherland missing through injury and replaced at loosehead by Pierre Schoeman who won his first cap last weekend.

“It was a little surprising to have almost all 15 available six months after that game. We’ve been able to select an experienced team and aim to use the remaining Autumn fixtures to build our game through improving week on week," said Townsend.

“This is a great opportunity to test ourselves against an in-form side, who are also one of the leading teams in world rugby,” he told a news conference.

Scotland, who also meet world champions South Africa on Nov. 13 and Japan seven days later at Murrayfield, named two uncapped players among the replacements in Sale Sharks hooker Ewan Ashman and Bath back-row forward Josh Bayliss.

Ashman get a chance after former skipper Stuart McInally fell ill this week, Townsend said.

Winger Kyle Steyn loses his place to Darcy Graham despite scoring four tries against the Tongans in the 60-14 victory nL1N2RQ0B4. Graham played fullback last week.

Team:

15-Stuart Hogg (capt.), 14-Darcy Graham, 13-Chris Harris, 12-Sam Johnson, 11-Duhan van der Merwe, 10-Finn Russell, 9-Ali Price, 8-Matt Fagerson, 7-Hamish Watson, 6-Jamie Ritchie, 5-Grant Gilchrist, 4-Sam Skinner, 3-Zander Fagerson, 2-George Turner, 1-Pierre Schoeman

Replacements: 16-Ewan Ashman, 17-Jamie Bhatti, 18-Oli Kebble, 19-Jamie Hodgson, 20-Josh Bayliss, 21-George Horne, 22-Adam Hastings, 23-Kyle Steyn

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by xx)

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