Greig Laidlaw will return as captain for Scotland in the opening viagogo Autumn Test against Argentina at BT Murrayfield on Saturday.
The 31-times capped scrum-half will lead his country for the eighth time and his first since leaving Edinburgh for Aviva Premiership club Gloucester. He captained two of the four games under new head coach Vern Cotter on the summer tour, the wins over the USA and Canada.
Laidlaw steps back into the job after Grant Gilchrist, originally selected as captain two weeks ago, broke his arm just four days later when playing for Edinburgh.
“Obviously we’re disappointed for Grant who misses the opportunity to captain his country at home but congratulations must go to Greig,” said Cotter.
“He offers us a bit of continuity having captained on the summer tour, has been playing well for Gloucester and deserves this opportunity.”
It also means Laidlaw has won the three-cornered battle for the scrum-half jersey from the in-form Glasgow 9 Henry Pyrgos and from his old rival Chris Cusiter, who returned to full contact training today after injury.
Scotland have also added Edinburgh’s David Denton to their training squad ahead of the Pumas test. The 22-times capped No 8 missed the entire summer tour after a severe concussion and then tore a hamstring in pre-season, only returning to action two weeks ago.