Graham rewarded for defying his size

5ft 8in Edinburgh wing on bench for Scotland Hastings handed chance at fly-half in youthful XV

Gregor Townsend likes to spring surprises with his selections, but with only Edinburgh and Glasgow players to pick from, the Scotland side for Saturday’s game against Wales was pretty much as expected. Until you come to the name of Darcy Graham on the replacements’ bench.

If you are unfamiliar with the uncapped 21-year-old Borderer, you are not alone. Much lauded by Richard Cockerill when he arrived in the capital, the former Scotland Sevens player was injured last year and barely featured. He has not played much this season, but over the past three or four games the Edinburgh wing has been in great form, especially against Toulon and Montpellier in Europe.

Although initially named to train alongside the squad to gain experience, he was upgraded to the full squad on Monday. But his Champions Cup heroics are not the statistics which dominate talk about Graham. Instead, it is his stature: at 5ft 8in and 11st 11lb, if the Hawick man comes off the bench he will be the smallest outfield player currently representing any major Test nation.

“Darcy’s rugby ability makes him hard to tackle, he is skilful and good in the air,” said Townsend. “But it’s more his approach in the past few games, where he’s taken it to the opposition, been aggressive in defence, won turnovers and looked to get on the ball. That’s the mindset we need in challenging places like Cardiff. If he gets the chance to play we’ll be looking to him to help us win.”

Townsend demurred when asked whether Graham, who can play anywhere across the back three and has even played centre, is too small for Test rugby. The Scotland coach added: “Darcy broke nine tackles last weekend [against Zebre] which is by far more than any other Edinburgh player. He can do it on the bigger stage and has shown that in the Champions Cup.” If he does come on, though, he might be facing one of the biggest wings in the world in George North.

Although Graham is the most eye-catching inclusion in the squad, there are several other youthfullooking selections whose form could widen Townsend’s options less than a year before the World Cup. In particular, the selection of Adam Hastings at stand-off could provide extra firepower if the 22-year-old can maintain his progress Townsend even suggested that Finn Russell and Hastings could end up playing in the same team.

“I can see them in the same team, although it would not necessarily be Finn who would be the 12,” said Townsend. “Adam could certainly play 12 or 15, Finn likewise. It would be good to have two first receivers.”

With Blair Kinghorn’s selection at full-back expected, Townsend’s other interesting call was selecting Jamie Ritchie on the blindside. However, the coach confirmed that Magnus Bradbury would have started there had he been fit, while Glasgow’s increasingly impressive young No8 Matt Fagerson was not considered for selection because he is still recovering from an injury.

Scotland (v Wales, Principality Stadium, Saturday 2.45pm, BBC One)