The Scotsman Rugby Show from Cardiff

The Scotsman

Rugby correspondent Graham Bean talks through the Scotland team selection for Saturday's Six Nations opener in Wales.

Transcript

00:00 Hello and welcome to this episode of the Scotsman Rugby Show. My name is Mark Atkinson and I'm

00:08 joined by Graeme Bean live from Cardiff, the head of Scotland's Six Nations opener against

00:14 Wales. Graeme, we join you in the aftermath of the Scotland team selection for this huge

00:21 match at the Principality Stadium and there's a big omission in that Scotland team. Tell

00:25 us more.

00:26 Yes, the team has just been named in the last 45 minutes or so and there's no Blair Kinghorn

00:33 for Scotland, which has come as a bit of a surprise. He was expected to start at full

00:39 back but he is injured and he's also going to miss the second game of the Six Nations

00:45 against France at Murrayfield next weekend. So that's a real blow for Scotland and one

00:50 that's taken us by surprise a little bit.

00:53 Absolutely. He's been playing really well since he moved over to France with Toulouse.

01:00 Who's coming to take his place, Graeme?

01:03 Yes, Kyle Rowe is going to play full back for Scotland, just his second cap. He's been

01:11 in really good form for Glasgow this season but playing on the wing. So it's asking quite

01:17 a lot of him to play full back. It's not a position he's played very often but he has

01:24 been really good since joining Glasgow in the summer from London Irish.

01:29 Yes, it will be a huge test of his credentials but as you say, playing very, very well since

01:36 moving to Scotland. Talk us through the rest of the team. Let's start with the backs. Any

01:42 major surprises in the rest of the backline?

01:46 Kyle Steyn is on the wing in place of Darcy Graeme who's injured. We knew he was injured.

01:54 Like King Horne, he's going to miss at least the first two matches of the Championship.

01:59 All the chat beforehand had been who would replace Graeme, whether it be Kyle Rowe or

02:03 Kyle Steyn. As it turned out, they're both playing but Steyn's on the wing. Steyn was

02:14 a regular on the team during the last six nations when Darcy Graeme was injured and

02:18 was excellent throughout the tournament. So there shouldn't be too many concerns there.

02:22 The only slight worry would be he's not had a lot of rugby recently. He's just played

02:27 one match since injuring his ankle in October. That was a game against Toulon. But he played

02:32 very well in that game so I think he's done enough to convince Gregor Townsend that he's

02:37 ready to start.

02:38 In terms of the pairings at Scrum Half and 10 at centre, no real surprises there?

02:46 No. I think he's gone for the Trident Trust at centre with Hugh Jones and Sione Tubolotu

02:53 who have served him well last six nations and at the World Cup that was a favoured pairing

02:57 as well. Finn Russell, captain of the team, didn't stand off as expected. Ben White's

03:03 got the nod at Scrum Half. There was a bit of chatter about whether Ali Price would get

03:08 in but it's White who I think was a favourite to wear 9. So he starts, despite he picked

03:14 up a little injury playing for his club Toulon last week, shoulder stinger, but he seems

03:20 to be OK. So he starts and the reserve Scrum Half is George Horne. So Ali Price is not

03:25 actually in the 23 this weekend.

03:28 OK, let's look at the forwards very quickly. Jamie Ritchie picked and no Rory Darge.

03:37 That's right, that's right, yeah. Darge was always a bit of a doubt. He injured his knee

03:42 playing for Glasgow against Edinburgh just after Christmas and the Scotland management

03:47 team had said they hoped he'd be fit for either the first or second game but wouldn't push

03:50 him. So he remains on course. Scotland are saying today he's recovering well, due to

03:56 be available for selection for next week's match which is France at Murrayfield. But

04:01 it's opened the door for Jamie Ritchie to retain his place. I mean there was a lot of

04:06 speculation, most of it driven by Gregor Townsend, enough to be said that Ritchie's place was

04:13 in doubt. There was so much competition in the back row. And this was the reason why

04:19 he took the captaincy from him. But it is Ritchie that starts and he's named as vice

04:25 captain, one of two vice captains, the other one being Sione. So he starts in the back

04:30 row, aside Luke Crosby, the number eight team mate, who's at six, Ritchie's at seven and

04:36 then Matt Fagerson's at number eight. It's Jack Dempsey on the bench.

04:39 It'll be fascinating to see how Ritchie plays in his first match since having the captaincy

04:46 taken away from him. We've not got many options in the front row due to injury, so no surprises

04:53 there really. Yeah, it's very much the old guard in the

04:56 front row with Pierre Schumann loose head, George Turner at hooker and Xander Fagerson

05:03 at tight head. But potentially two new caps on the bench, Alec Hepburn of Exeter, loose

05:12 head prop is on the bench, along with the Northampton Saints tight head, Elliot Miller-Mills.

05:18 Both uncapped by Scotland, but Hepburn has actually won six caps by England, was able

05:23 to switch sides under the new eligibility rules. So, it's an extraordinary situation

05:29 where after winning half a dozen caps for England, he can now win his first Scotland

05:34 cap this weekend in Cardiff. Yeah, we have seen Xander Fagerson play 80

05:42 minutes or near enough 80 minutes at prop regularly, but it'll be fascinating to see

05:46 if he does last and if indeed we do get a new cap. But just finally, the second row,

05:51 they've kind of picked themselves, is that fair?

05:54 Yeah, there's no Grant Gilchrist who's got a one-match suspension following his red card

05:59 for Edinburgh. I think most people expect Scott Cummings to come into his place and

06:04 that's what's happened. So, he'll partner Richie Gray in the second row and Sam Skinner

06:09 is on the bench providing cover.

06:11 Grant, Grant. Graham, you do speak to Gregor Townsend imminently. How do you think he'll

06:18 be with the news that Blair Kinghorn's out? That's going to put a dampener on this selection,

06:24 isn't it?

06:25 A little bit, yeah. I mean, injuries are part of the games, but that's Kinghorn out, hasn't

06:32 got Rory Darge, hasn't got Darcy Graham, hasn't got WP Nell. It's four big players all out

06:38 with injury and you've got Grant Gilchrist suspended as well. So, that's five who would

06:43 almost certainly be in the match on day 23 that are unavailable to Gregor Townsend. But

06:48 I mean, it opens the doors to others and Scotland, you know, a lot is made of Scotland's strength

06:51 and depth. This is a big test of it now, a venue they've really struggled at the last

06:58 two decades. You have to go back to 2002, the last time Scotland won in Cardiff.

07:02 Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Graham, we'll let you crack on to the press conference.

07:07 Thank you for joining us. I'm sure we'll speak in the aftermath of Gregor Townsend as he

07:11 explains his team collection for myself and Graham in Wales. Let's keep quiet for now.

07:15 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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