Starting: David Denton
David Denton has been promoted to the Scotland starting line-up for their clash with South Africa on Saturday.
Denton replaces the injured Ross Rennie in a re-jigged back-row, with captain Kelly Brown moving to openside flanker for the game at Murrayfield.
Euan Murray returns at tighthead in place of Geoff Cross, whilst the backline remains unchanged from last Sunday's loss to New Zealand.
Uncapped Glasgow back Peter Murchie is named amongst the replacements ahead of Max Evans, whilst John Barclay also returns to the match-day squad as a substitute after missing out last week.
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Denton, 7 Kelly Brown (c), 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 John Barclay, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Peter Murchie.
Date: Saturday 16 November
Venue: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 14:30 GMT (16:30 SA time)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Christophe Berdos (France)
Television match official: Eric Gauzins (France)
Comments
scot_rsa says...
Scotland's pack definitely has a hard edge these days, all those guys carry well and don't shirk. Think that would allow Ford to be rested in favour of improving the lineout throwing. Better line speed in the backline and we'll put up a good show I think. Good to see Murchie but would like to see Hogg at centre soon.
Posted 21:34 14th November 2012
porridge_time says...
Euan Murray is a quality prop, but his decision to ask for preferential treatment due to his - in my opinion - miss placed faith has had a negative impact on his career and Scotland. There are many religious players out there who have accepted that they can have their faith and commit to professional sport at the highest level.
Personally I find Murray's blind faith somewhat attention seeking and detrimental to the squad both at club and test level.
Posted 18:39 14th November 2012
porridge_time says...
Increase the defensive line speed is effort is required. De Luca actually looked good going forward, but was pretty woeful in defense. His partnership with Matt Scott is worth giving another go. Ross Ford needs to get his act together as he goes missing far too much... losing Rennie is massive because he is a class operator at the breakdown and he was certainly missed after he went off.
Having said that if they apply themselves properly then they could well cause South Africa problems again.
With regards to being outside the top eight I would not be too worried as I personally feel that only NZ appear to be a side that appear unbeatable at the moment.
Posted 18:25 14th November 2012
melkdave says...
Well not quite the team ,i would have picked ,but i do respect AR and co so defer to them.Myself i would have dropped R.Ford to the bench, and played Barclay at 7 .Hope Scotland do win this match.The bokke where very poor against a dreadfull Ireland,,lets hope they are just as bad against Scotland,if so then i feel Scotland could really hamer them ,not just win.Anyway heres hoping for a Scotland victory by 5-9 points min..
Posted 17:10 14th November 2012
5Lock4ward says...
So for all you Murray bashers out there who reprimanded my pointing out his non-inclusion in the initial squad, one of you even going as low as to refer to his religious beliefs as 'counting fairies', I'd just like to ask you to hold up your first 3 digits and read between the lines. Just for laughs of course. Give this man some respect. It's not everyone who has the stones to make and stick by the choices he's made. Not to mention he's one of the best in the business.
Posted 15:04 14th November 2012
atg77 says...
Would have dropped Lamont completely and started Evans. Good to see Murchie on the bench, although it seems strange to introduce him in such a high stakes game. He should have been introduced last week against the All Blacks... a game we were never going to realistically win and had nothing to lose in. If we fail to beat the boks we'll be stuck outside the top 8 which is not a good thing
Posted 14:27 14th November 2012