Hastings and Hogg start as Townsend rings the changes

Head coach Gregor Townsend has made six changes to Scotland’s starting line-up for this Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series game against Fiji at BT Murrayfield (kick-off 1pm – live on Amazon Prime Video).

Four of the new faces come in the back division, with Scotland’s record try-scorer Stuart Hogg making a first appearance of the season at full-back and Adam Hastings returning to feature at stand-off against the Flying Fijians.

A new centre partnership sees Chris Harris – who is named as a vice-captain – link up with Cameron Redpath, the latter set to earn a first cap at BT Murrayfield. Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham are selected at wing, with Ali Price continuing at scrum-half.

The pack has two changes from the side narrowly beaten by Australia last weekend, with Richie Gray returning to the international fold for a first start since 2017 and George Turner coming in at hooker. Pierre Schoeman packs down with Zander Fagerson either side of Turner, with vice-captain Grant Gilchrist partnering Gray in the second row.

Captain Jamie Ritchie once more leads a back row that also contains Hamish Watson and Matt Fagerson. Young tighthead prop Murphy Walker is listed among the replacements and the 23-year-old would make his Scotland debut if called upon.

Rory Sutherland, Ewan Ashman, Jonny Gray and Jack Dempsey represent the remaining forward substitutes, with Ben White, Blair Kinghorn and Sione Tuipulotu options in the backs. There are now over 234,000 tickets in circulation for the 2022 Autumn Nations Series, already well ahead of last year’s series record for crowds at BT Murrayfield, with only one game played.

Scotland team to face Fiji at BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh, live on Amazon Prime, Saturday 5 November – kick-off 1pm
15. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) 93 caps
14. Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) 30 caps
13. Chris Harris – Vice Captain – (Gloucester Rugby) 36 caps
12. Cameron Redpath (Bath Rugby) 2 caps
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 20 caps
10. Adam Hastings (Gloucester Rugby) 26 caps
9. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) 55 caps

1. Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 13 caps
2. George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 28 caps
3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 51 caps
4. Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 67 caps
5. Grant Gilchrist – Vice Captain – (Edinburgh Rugby) 56 caps
6. Jamie Ritchie – Captain – (Edinburgh Rugby) 33 caps
7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) 52 caps
8. Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 25 caps

Replacements

16. Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks) 4 caps
17. Rory Sutherland (Ulster Rugby) 20 caps
18. Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
19. Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) 69 caps
20. Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) 1 cap
21. Ben White (London Irish) 6 caps
22. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 35 caps
23. Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 8 caps