STUART MCINALLY will start at hooker in the Scotland side which will take on Japan in Toyota City on Saturday.
Ross Ford has dominated the Scottish number two jersey for almost a decade, racking up 99 appearances in the process, but will have to wait a bit longer to pass century milestone after picking up a calf injury.
Elsewhere, Damian Hoyland will make his first start at international level on the wing after an impressive breakthrough season at club level in which he has scored eight tries for Edinburgh.
Ruaridh Jackson comes in for the injured Finn Russell at stand-off, to make his first start since Canada in the summer of 2013; while Gloucester-bound Matt Scott lines up alongside Duncan Taylor in a powerful centre pairing – meaning that all four inside backs are English based.
McInally will be making his seventh appearance for Scotland but the25-year-old has started only one of those matches – in the World Cup warm-up encounter against Italy in Torino last August. He missed the actual tournament through injury but appeared off the bench in all of Scotland’s Six Nations matches this season.
Having made the switch from back-row to hooker back in 2013, McInally has long been seen as the heir apparent to Ford as a more dynamic presence in open play – but he has struggled to get a enough game time to really prove that he has fully mastered the technical aspects of the position. The ball is now in his court.
| Scotland team to play Japan at Toyota City Stadium |
| Saturday 18 June (kick-off 7.20pm BST, 11.20am BST) – live on BBC |
| 15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 43 caps; 11 tries, 3 pens, 64 points
14. Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 27 caps; 13 tries, 65 points 13. Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 17 caps; 2 tries, 10 points 12. Matt Scott (Gloucester) – 34 caps; 4 tries, 20 points 11. Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap
10. Ruaridh Jackson (Harlequins) – 28 caps; 4 cons, 2 pens, 2 drops, 20 points 9. Greig Laidlaw (Gloucester) – 51 caps; 4 tries, 64 cons, 120 pens, 508 points
1. Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 57 caps; 2 tries, 10 points 2. Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps 3. Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 13 caps, 1 try, 5 points 4. Richie Gray (Toulouse) – 56 caps; 3 tries, 15 points 5. Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 23 caps, 1 try, 5 points 6. John Barclay (Scarlets) – 50 caps, 4 tries, 20 points 7. John Hardie (Edinburgh Rugby) – 10 caps, 3 tries, 15 points 8. Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 18 caps
Substitutes 16. Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps 17. Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap 18. Moray Low (Exeter Chiefs) – 32 caps 19. Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 22 caps 20. David Denton (Bath Rugby) – 34 caps 21. Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors) – 17 caps; 4 tries, 20 points 22. Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 18 caps; 2 tries, 1 con, 1 pen, 15 points 23. Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 21 caps; 3 tries, 15 points
Unavailable through injury: Ross Ford (calf). |