Scotland rookie locks in for Paris clash

Today at 08:09 AM

Head coach Gregor Townsend has tweaked the Scotland lineup for their tournament finale against leaders France on Saturday.

Glasgow lock Gregor Brown, who made his debut against Canada in Ottawa last year and has since won eight caps, will make his first championship start in Paris. The 23-year-old takes over in the second row from the benched Jonny Gray.

In the only other change to the starting XV, Matt Fagerson comes in at No 8 after Jack Dempsey was ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Co-captain and flanker Rory Darge has been passed fit following the hip problem that forced him off during last week's win over Wales.

Townsend has retained the same back division that kicked off in a 35-29 win over Wales at Murrayfield last Saturday, a match where the Scots led 35-8 only to concede several late tries after first-choice players were replaced.

TEAM: France find new Dupont for title decider

Forwards Marshall Sykes and Ben Muncaster could feature in the Six Nations for the first time after being named on a bench where Glasgow backs Kyle Rowe and George Horne are no longer involved after being left out of the match-day 23 announced by Townsend on Thursday.

Scotland, who've never finished higher than third in the Six Nations era – their last title came in the final edition of the old Five Nations in 1999 – are currently fourth and effectively out of championship contention once again.

But were the Scots to spring a major surprise by avoiding defeat at the Stade de France, they could have a major say in the destiny of this season's title.

Townsend, however, speaking after Scotland's shaky win over Wales said an away match against France is now “probably the toughest fixture in world rugby”.

SCOTLAND – 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (co-capt), 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (co-capt), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Bench: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Marshall Sykes, 21 Ben Muncaster, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall.

Six Nations round 5 fixtures:
Saturday
Italy vs Ireland, Rome, 4.15pm
Wales vs England, Cardiff, 6.45pm
France vs Scotland, Paris, 10pm

© Agence France-Presse

Photo: Ross Parker/SNS Group via Getty Images

The post Scotland rookie locks in for Paris clash appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.