Barclay to captain Scotland against Wales
Huget drafted in for France as Noves makes three changes
John Barclay will replace the injured Greig Laidlaw as Scotland captain for tomorrow’s Six Nations international against Wales at Murrayfield.
Scrum-half Laidlaw was ruled out of the rest of the tournament after suffering an ankle injury that saw him go off during the first half of Scotland’s eventual 22-16 loss to France in Paris earlier this month.
Barclay took over the captaincy at the Stade de France and even the back-row forward also had to leave the field, with a shoulder and head injury, although he has since been passed fit,
The 30-year-old Barclay, who plays his club rugby in Wales for the Llanelli-based Scarlets, has been the official Scotland captain once before when standing in for the injured Scotland team to play Wales:
Stuart Hogg; Tommy Seymour, Huw Jones, Alex Dunbar, Tim Visser; Finn Russell, Ali Price; Ryan Wilson, John Hardie, John Barclay (capt); Jonny Gray, Richie Gray; Zander Fagerson, Fraser Brown, Gordon Reid
Ross Ford, Allan Dell, Simon Berghan, Tim Swinson, Hamish Watson, Henry Pyrgos, Duncan Weir, Mark Bennett
Scotland (15-1): Replacements:
Mike Blair Zealand in 2010.
Scotland coach Vern Cotter has made five changes to his side, with three enforced through injury. against New
Tactical changes
Laidlaw’s place will be taken by Ali Price, who came off the bench in Paris, with the Glasgow scrum-half set to make his first Test start this weekend.
Cotter has made two tactical changes in the pack, with back-row John Hardie and prop France team to play Ireland:
Scott Spedding; Yoann Huget, Remi Lamerat, Gael Fickou, Noa Nakaitaci; Camille Lopez, Baptiste Serin; Kevin Gourdon, Louis Picamoles, Bernard Le Roux; Yoann Maestri, Sebastien Vahaamahina; Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado (capt), Cyril Baille
France: Replacements:
Christopher Tolofua, Uini Atonio, Eddy Ben Arous, Julien Le Devedec, Charles Ollivon, Maxime Machenaud, Henry Chavancy, Djibril Camara.
Gordon Reid respectively in for Hamish Watson and Allan Dell, who both drop down to the bench after starting Scotland’s opening two matches of the Championship.
Meanwhile, France coach Guy Noves has made three changes to his side for tomorrow’s clash against Ireland in Dublin.
Rabah Slimani, Bernard Le Roux and Yoann Huget all start as Virimi Vakatawa, Loann Goujon and Unini Atonio drop out of the side that defeated Scotland 22-16 last time out.
Prop Slimani comes in at tighthead in place of Atonio, who drops to the bench, with flanker Le Roux and fullback Huget replacing injured pair Loann Goujon and Virimi Vakatawa.
Toulouse’s Huget has not featured since the first November Test against Samoa. “The logic was [to replace Vakatawa by] Yoann who is returning to form”, after a serious knee injury during the opening game of the 2015 World Cup, Noves explained.
No fly-half named
No fly-half has been named on the bench with scrum-half Baptiste Serin and fullback Scott Spedding ready to step in should Camille Lopez retire injured.
Racing 92’s Le Roux returns after being hampered by injuries since the 2016 Six Nations.
Stade Francais prop Slimani comes in as Atonio struggled during the first two matches of the tournament with France losing their opener 19-16 at champions England.