Gregor Townsend has made 14 changes to his Scotland side that will face Portugal at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on Saturday.
Of the side that lost to South Africa, only Tom Jordan has retained his place in the starting side, with three players – lock Alex Samuel, openside Ben Muncaster and his Edinburgh Rugby team-mate Freddy Douglas – all set to make their international debuts.
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Teenager Douglas, earlier this week dubbed “world class” by forwards coach John Dalziel, will make his Test bow before he has played a competitive game of senior rugby for Edinburgh.
Rory Hutchinson, a Premiership winner with Northampton Saints last season, will earn his first cap since the 2022 summer tour to Argentina, while nine of the 23 will win their first caps at Murrayfield.
Having been co-captain in the win over Canada on the summer tour, Stafford McDowall, the Glasgow Warriors centre, will lead Scotland on his own for the first time.
Here are five talking points from the team selection.
Tom Jordan goes again with Harry Paterson injured
Townsend confirmed he would have made a full 15 changes to his team, but Harry Paterson picked up a hamstring injury in training that will also keep the Edinburgh man out of next week’s game against Australia and the ‘A’ fixture against Chile.
Townsend said: “Harry Paterson unfortunately got injured halfway during our training session yesterday. He was due to start at full-back, but Tom stepped in really well at fullback in the Fiji game and played an even better game last week, so we expect him to play well again.”
Injury update on Glasgow Warriors quartet
As well as Paterson, Townsend also provided an update on the injured Glasgow forwards Nathan McBeth Gregor Brown, Max Williamson and Jack Dempsey, who all left the squad earlier this week.
Losing Dempsey is a sizeable blow ahead of the Wallabies match next weekend, with Townsend confirming he is unlikely to play again this year.
"We've not had the latest specialist update, but I think it would be a number of weeks, potentially into the two-month territory,” Townsend said of the former Wallabies number eight.
“Max Williamson is similar. He had surgery two days ago on his thumb that he fractured. During the game, Gregor Brown is only maybe three or four weeks
“Nathan McBeth is another two or three weeks, so he won't play next week for us and won't be involved next week.”
Lock duo backed to shine
With Scott Cummings suspended and Grant Gilchrist rested, Glasgow-bound Alex Craig, who has four caps, will be the senior man in Townsend’s engine room on Saturday.
He’ll partner his soon-to-be club colleague and namesake Samuel who will make his debut.
Townsend said: “Alex Craig had a very good season for Scarlets last year. He was a player of the season, he's continued that this year.
“We see them as a good blend. Alex [Craig] is going to be more of the ball carrier and Alex Samuel, the physical player, but also someone who's got the height and can really dominate the line-out.”
Freddy Douglas ‘ready’ for Test rugby
The teenager has yet to play a game for Edinburgh, but Townsend clearly sees potential in Douglas, who would be the youngest debutant for Scotland since 1963 if called upon from the bench.
“He has got the mindset we believe that is ready for Test rugby,” he said.
“He will go forward and attack in defence, and he's got a super strength which is his ability to win turnovers and win that ball back.
Townsend likened Douglas’ rise to that of former captain Rory Darge.
“I remember Rory Darge coming in to train with us because he wasn't really training with Edinburgh, never mind getting a chance to play for Edinburgh, and he impressed us in training.
“But that is in our mind when we see Freddy.”
No complaints from Duhan as Darcy Graham returns
Graham scored four tries in the win over Fiji but sat out the Springboks defeat having picked up a head injury. He’s now just one shy of team-mate Duhan van der Merwe’s all-time record and will fancy his chances of surpassing that record on Saturday, with van der Merwe rested.
But Townsend revealed the Lions wing has not been banging down his door and demanding to play.
"We’ve not seen Duhan much this week,” Townsend said.
“There are a few guys who’ve been down with illness, so didn't train yesterday. I think with the efforts that have gone in the first two weeks, it's a good opportunity to let players recover on a six-day turnaround and make sure we've got a fresh squad for next week to select from.”
Scotland: Tom Jordan, Darcy Graham, Rory Hutchinson, Stafford McDowall (captain), Arron Reed, Adam Hastings, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Paddy Harrison, Will Hurd, Alex Craig, Alex Samuel, Luke Crosbie, Ben Muncaster, Josh Bayliss
Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Rory Sutherland, Elliot Millar Mills, Ewan Johnson, Freddy Douglas, Jamie Dobie, Matt Currie, Kyle Rowe
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