Rory Darge will captain Scotland for the first time as they take on Italy in a Rugby World Cup warm-up test at Murrayfield on Saturday with coach Gregor Townsend naming two new caps in the matchday squad.
Uncapped Glasgow Warriors centre Stafford McDowall starts while Leicester Tigers second row Cameron Henderson is on the bench as Scotland begin a series of four warm-up matches that includes two tests against World Cup hosts France and a home match against Georgia.
Darge is a former skipper of Scotland’s under-20 team and leads an experimental selection, without regular captain Jamie Ritchie, Finn Russell and Duhan van der Merwe.
“It’s a reflection of how we see Rory,” said Townsend of the selection of the 23-year-old to captain the side. “We are looking at this as a challenge to Rory and an opportunity to thrive, being captain of your country.”
Saturday’s team sees Ollie Smith come in at fullback following the sudden retirement of Stuart Hogg and McDowall paired with British & Irish Lion Chris Harris, who lost his place in the team during the Six Nations earlier this year.
Darcy Graham returns on the wing after missing the Six Nations through injury.
New Edinburgh signing Ben Healy, who made his first appearance for Scotland against Italy earlier this year, starts at flyhalf alongside Ali Price at scrumhalf.
The clash against Italy comes after seven weeks together for the Scottish side as they prepare for the World Cup, where they take on holders South Africa, Tonga, Romania and Ireland in their Pool B matches.
For warm-up tests, they will next meet France at Murrayfield and then St Etienne over the next fortnight before a last preparatory international against Georgia on Aug. 26.
“We will change the team up for the second game but we believe this is the team best suited for the game against Italy,” added Townsend. “It’s a test match where we have to raise our game.”
Team: 15-Ollie Smith, 14-Darcy Graham, 13-Chris Harris, 12-Stafford McDowall, 11-Kyle Steyn, 10-Ben Healy, 9-Ali Price, 8-Matt Fagerson, 7-Rory Darge (capt.), 6-Luke Crosbie, 5-Scott Cummings, 4- Sam Skinner, 3-Murphy Walker, 2-George Turner, 1-Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16-Stuart McInally, 17-Jamie Bhatti, 18-Javan Sebastian, 19-Cameron Henderson, 20-Josh Bayliss, 21-Jamie Dobie, 22-Blair Kinghorn, 23-Cameron Redpath.
