Bold Townsend drops Watson and hands big chance to Mclean
All hail rugby’s “Tinkerman”. In the wake of a historic victory against Australia when there seemed virtually no scope to make changes to either the starting line-up or bench, Scotland’s endlessly innovative head coach Gregor Townsend has once again made a slew of alterations to his side ahead of tomorrow’s match against world champions South Africa, only one of which was dictated by injury.
The first of two changes to the back division sees 31-year-old Matt Scott return in place of Sam Johnson to win his 40th cap, which will be
the Leicester inside centre’s first start since 2017 and his first against a tier-one side since the 2016 Six Nations. It will also mark the 23rd different centre partnership in Townsend’s 47 Tests as coach.
The other change in the backs sees 21-year-old wing Rufus Mclean win his second cap at the expense of Darcy Graham. On the bench, Kyle Steyn, who scored four tries against Tonga and impressed when coming on against Australia, is replaced by the versatile Blair Kinghorn, whose ability to cover stand-off, wing and full-back proved decisive.
Up front hooker George Turner’s rib injury means that the experienced Stuart Mcinally starts in the front row, while youngster Ewan Ashman is on the bench following his try-scoring debut against Australia. Of more surprise is Townsend’s decision to put Hamish Watson, who was man of the match against Australia, on the bench. He has instead decided to start with Nick Haining at blindside and move Jamie Ritchie, who was outstanding last week, to openside.
“There’s obviously a thought around four Test matches or three Test matches in a row and how we use the squad,” he said. “No one
wants to be the player that isn’t involved, but that’s part of the thought process on how we brought people in at different times.”
It also gives Townsend a chance to reward form, particularly that of Mclean and Scott. Mclean impressed Townsend when scoring twice against Tonga and at one stage seemed likely to become the first Scottish debutant to score a hattrick since the peerless Ian Smith in 1924. The Glasgow Warriors speedster coming in on the wing for a fellow diminutive Borderer in Graham leaves Scotland vulnerable to the salvo of high balls which will surely come his way, as will the hard-running Makazole Mapimpi, but Townsend has 6ft 5in Kinghorn on the bench in case it all goes south.
“Rufus was outstanding against Tonga,” said Townsend. “He just thrived in that Test-match environment. We feel it’s a good opportunity for Rufus who we believe is ready and offers something different. Some aspects of his game, contact and kick chase, are exceptional.
“We just have to look at the bigger picture at times during the November Tests. Make sure we’re giving player opportunities that are deserving of them.”