Gregor Townsend has backed Duhan van der Merwe to seize his opportunity to prove a point when he returns to the Scotland side to face Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
As exclusively revealed by The Times before the official announcement, the wing — who is Scotland’s’ all-time leading tryscorer but has not featured so far in this year’s Six Nations after going off the boil with Edinburgh — has been brought back in from the cold to start at the Principality.
Van der Merwe replaces Jamie Dobie, who picked up a tournament-ending shoulder injury in last week’s win over England, and will be buoyed by memories of the two touchdowns he notched the last time Scotland were in Cardiff in February 2024. The second of those scores put the visitors 27-0 up two minutes into the second half, but Wales fought back to finish within a point.
Van der Merwe scored two tries for Scotland on their last visit to Wales in the Six Nations in 2024
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Despite his prolific returns, Van der Merwe — who has 35 tries in 52 appearances for Townsend’s team — has drifted to the periphery of the set-up, with Kyle Steyn preferred for the two big autumn fixtures against New Zealand and Argentina on account of his more proficient all-round game, particularly in the aerial contest.
There is a further change to the back three, with Blair Kinghorn also named for his first involvement in the championship. The Toulouse star replaces Tom Jordan at full back, with the Bristol utility man dropping to the bench as part of a 5-3 split between forwards and backs.
Townsend is confident that both British & Irish Lions players will rise to the challenge of showing that they remain the best available options in their respective roles.
“Are they champing at the bit? Yes they are,” the head coach said. “Blair was back playing on Sunday night for Toulouse, so it’s good to get an outlet when you’re not being selected. Blair played really well in that game and he’s recovered quickly after an evening game. Duhan has played really well for Edinburgh in the lead-up to November and he’s very much part of our squad. So there’ll be a freshness around both of them coming back in and a huge determination to play well.
Kinghorn will be Scotland’s full back when they take on Wales on Saturday in Cardiff
NEIL HANNA/SPORTIMAGE/ALAMY
“How has Blair handled not being picked? You’d have to ask him, but he’s been good in our group and he got to play for Toulouse at the weekend. Like any player, you want to be part of the squad and for those players who have been in our squad for a few years, it’ll be tough for them to take, but they back the team, they understand the reasons why we had different selections going into our opening two games and now they have an opportunity to represent their country again.
“We want to see Duhan’s strength, which is very much on the ball-carrying. His work rate has always been really good at international level. He’s been a strong defender and has been in our defence leadership group in the past. He’s worked really hard on the aerial side of the game which all our back-three players now know is massively important. We’ve got to make sure that Duhan gets opportunities to run. When he’s done that in the past for us he’s played really well.
“I hope that they realise what’s required now that they’ve been out of the team and that they’re desperate to not be in this situation again. There’s obviously very good competition around the back three right now. And they’re aware of that because they didn’t get selected the first two games. But they’re also aware that they’ll have to play well to be in the mix for the French game [At Murrayfield on March 7].”
Dave Cherry, who impressed off the bench against England, replaces George Turner at hooker while Max Williamson starts in an all-Glasgow second row alongside Scott Cummings. Their Scotstoun colleague Gregor Brown moves to blind-side flanker, with Matt Fagerson returning to the starting XV at No8 in place of Jack Dempsey, who, like fellow loose forward Jamie Ritchie, will play no further part in the campaign because of injury. Seven of the starting pack play their club rugby under Franco Smith.
Grant Gilchrist, the 85-times capped lock who was dropped for the Calcutta Cup match, is among the replacements alongside Josh Bayliss, the Bath back-row forward, who made the most recent of his 14 Test appearances against Tonga last autumn.
Scotland will be out to back up a fifth Calcutta Cup success in six years with the win that would leave them well placed to launch a meaningful tilt at the title in their final two games, at home to France and away to Ireland. Wales, meanwhile, have not won a Six Nations match since 2023 and have suffered heavy defeats by England and France so far.
Townsend said his side were expecting a noisy and energetic atmosphere in Cardiff
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“They’ll be highly motivated, they’ll play with a lot of passion, they’re learning from those defeats,” Townsend said about Saturday’s opposition. “You get a lot out of a defeat, it definitely motivates you to play well. I thought there were areas of the game that really improved from England to France and they played very tough teams.
“The atmosphere at the Principality is always one of the noisiest, most energetic in the championship. I’m sure they’ll be playing their best rugby against us and that’s a challenge we’re preparing for.
“I’m sure last week a lot of people thought England were clear favourites [against Scotland]. The game is not about predictions and previous form, it’s a lot about what you do in those 80 minutes. We’ve got to make sure that we get our game out.
“That’s hard to do at times when the opposition are posing you different problems but our game is about our defence system, our aggression, our energy. It’s about producing quick ball and getting the ball to players on our team but also getting the ball into space and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Dobie has undergone surgery on his shoulder injury, with a timeline for his return yet to be established. “It’s a pretty routine operation to stabilise the shoulder. It’ll be months. Whether that’s more than four months, more than three months, we’ll wait and see,” Townsend said.
A decision has not been made on whether Dempsey needs to go under the knife after his bicep tear, while Ritchie does not require surgery but will miss 10-12 weeks with his knee complaint.
Wales v Scotland
Saturday, 4.40pm
TV BBC1
Scotland team to play Wales15 B Kinghorn
14 K Steyn
13 H Jones
12 S Tuipulotu (Capt)
11 D van der Merwe
10 F Russell
9 B White
1 N McBeth
2 D Cherry
3 Z Fagerson
4 M Williamson
5 S Cummings
6 G Brown
7 R Darge
8 M FagersonReplacements
16 N McBeth
17 G Turner
18 E Millar Mills
19 G Gilchrist
20 J Bayliss
21 G Horne
22 T Jordan
23 D Graham