Ollie Smith has been handed an early opportunity to stake his claim for the Scotland No 15 jersey with selection ahead of Blair Kinghorn for Saturday’s first World Cup warm-up match against Italy at Murrayfield.
The two players are competing for the slot in the side which was dominated by Stuart Hogg (when fit) for the last 11½ years before his abrupt retirement from all rugby earlier this month.
Smith has just three Scotland caps to his name, while Kinghorn has played 43 times for Scotland in various positions across the backline – but national head coach Gregor Townsend is not overly concerned about miles on the clock.
“Ollie has been very impressive in training,” said Townsend. “The Test matches that he’s played for us he’s played really well. He seems to be able to thrive at Test level and has impressed a lot with his work rate.
“Blair obviously played a lot at 15 [off the bench] during the Six Nations and is in really good physical shape, so those two are competing for the full-back position currently.”
Townsend revealed that he plans to cut his 41-strong training squad to the 33 he will take to the World Cup after Scotland’s second warm-up match, against France at Murrayfield on Saturday week.
It is likely both Kinghorn and Smith will make the cut meaning their battle to be first choice for the big Tests can carry on during the two remaining warm-up matches against France away the following Saturday then Georgia at Murrayfield on 26th August.
Other positions will be more cut-throat. For example, Stafford McDowall, debuting in midfield on Saturday, is one of five centres competing for four (at most) spots in the final squad, so he is going to have to make the most of this opportunity.
“Stafford has evolved as a rugby player and taken his game to another level,” said Townsend. “He has become a massive running threat - he’s a big man so he’s physical but his footwork has been really good, too. He’s been scoring tries in the wide channels and making the right decisions. He’s got a very good kicking game too and defensively he’s been solid.
“Where he’s also grown is as a leader and as a man. He’s captained Glasgow this year, he communicates really well on the field. He’s competing with Sione and Cam for the 12 position. We know all three of them can cover 13 too, but they are essentially 12s as we see them right now.”
Meanwhile, Irish-born and raised Ben Healy – who switched allegiance to Scotland ahead of the Six Nations and made his debut off the bench in the final match of the championship against Italy – is getting his first start at stand-off. He'll hope to put pressure on Finn Russell for the vital No 10 jersey.
“We enjoyed working with him in the Six Nations and we felt he kicked on even more after that," said Townsend. "He started for Munster against Leinster in the URC semi-final and was excellent but then got a bang on the head and had to be replaced.
“He still had a role to play in the final off the bench, so he’s come into our camp with confidence. He picks up things really quickly. We have a different way of playing to Munster but he’s adapted to that.
“He’s technically very strong in his kicking and passing and he’s growing and learning more about spaces in defence and what options there are for him.”
In the pack, it is going to be a big day for tight-head prop Murphy Walker, who will be winning his third cap and making his first international start after missing the second half of last season with a neck injury.
“Italy have got a strong forward pack and they’ve got mobile props now too which has been another evolution in their game, so we know our props will have to be very mobile but also do their work at scrum time,” said Townsend.
“Pieter de Villiers [Scotland’s scrum coach] has been really impressed with both Murphy and Javan Sebastian [reserve tight-head on Saturday]. We’ve done a lot of scrumming over the last few weeks and they’ve been against Rory Sutherland, Pierre Schoeman and Jamie Bhatti who are very good scrummagers. So, what we are seeing in the daily scrums sessions is that these guys are ready to go and play Test level.
“It’s Murphy’s first start and Javan hasn’t been involved with us since that summer tour when he was on the bench for a couple of games.”
The other debutant in Saturday's match-day squad is replacement second-row Cameron Henderson.
Scotland (v Italy at Murrayfield, Saturday 3.15pm): Ollie Smith; Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Stafford McDowall, Kyle Steyn; Ben Healy, Ali Price; Rory Sutherland, George Turner, Murphy Walker, Sam Skinner, Scott Cummings, Luke Crosbie, Rory Darge (captain), Matt Fagerson. Substitutes: Stuart McInally, Jamie Bhatti, Javan Sebastian, Cameron Henderson, Josh Bayliss, Jamie Dobie, Blair Kinghorn, Cameron Redpath.
