Ross Ford will be the first forward to play 100 times for Scotland and four youngsters will make their first start for their country in the first Autumn Test against Australia at BT Murrayfield on Saturday.
The Kelso man follows Chris Paterson and Sean Lamont as Scotland centurions, but he will be propped by two newcomers in Edinburgh’s Alan Dell – the only new cap in the starting team – and Glasgow youngster Zander Fagerson.
Dell (24) is in as regular loose head Alasdair Dickinson is still recovering from a hamstring injury and Rory Sutherland, who played against Japan in the summer, is also not fit. He’s preferred to Glasgow’s 18-times capped Gordon Reid and Alex Allan.
Fagerson, from Kirriemuir, is still only 20 and was first capped against England in the Six Nations earlier this year. He plays with WP Nel injured for the entire Autumn Test series and is preferred to the more experienced Moray Low.
Edinburgh openside Hamish Watson’s outstanding form for his club sees him in for clubmate John Hardie in the back row to make first start for Scotland, while centre Huw Jones, first capped off the bench in the second test against Japan, starts alongside Alex Dunbar.
Duncan Taylor, Dunbar’s partner during the Six Nations, has not been considered due to injury.
There’s a second possible new cap on the bench with Glasgow scrum-half Ali Price surprisingly preferred to his club co-captain Henry Pyrgos. Rory Hughes, the Glasgow wing, is also set for a second cap off the bench.
Team: S Hogg (Glasgow); S Maitland (Saracens), H Jones (Stormers), A Dunbar (Glasgow), T Visser (Harlequins); F Russell (Glasgow), G Laidlaw (Gloucester, capt); A Dell (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), Z Fagerson (Glasgow); J Gray (Glasgow), R Gray (Toulouse); J Barclay (Scarlets), H Watson (Edinburgh), R Wilson (Glasgow).
Replacements: F Brown (Glasgow), G Reid (Glasgow), M Low (Exeter), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh), J Hardie (Edinburgh), A Price (Glasgow), P Horne (Glasgow), R Hughes (Glasgow).
