One change for visit of Wales

6 Mar 2025

Darcy Graham has returned to the Scotland starting line-up ahead of this weekend’s Guinness Men’s Six Nations match against Wales at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 31: Scotland's Darcy Graham ahead of the Guinness Six Nations game against Italy at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, on January 31, 2025, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Graham missed the previous match, against England, after being concussed in the Ireland match, but will start this weekend against a nation he has fond memories of facing, having made his debut in Wales, in 2018, and scoring his first try against them the following year.

Fresh from his Player of the Match performance in the tight loss to England, Duhan van der Merwe starts on the opposite wing.

Huw Jones and Tom Jordan make up the centre partnership for the third game in a row with Blair Kinghorn starting at full-back.

Try scorer at Twickenham, Ben White, who has scored in each of Scotland’s opening three championship fixtures, will start alongside Finn Russell.

There are no changes to the forward pack for the visit of Wales, who ran Ireland close in their last outing.

Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry and Zander Fagerson again comprise the front row, having done likewise against England and Italy, with Jonny Gray and Grant Gilchrist the pairing in the second row once more.

In the back row, Jamie Ritchie is again named at blindside flanker, with co-captain Rory Darge on the openside and Jack Dempsey anchoring the scrum at No 8.
Rory Sutherland has recovered from the back injury that ruled him out of the previous round and is named on the bench alongside fellow front-rowers Ewan Ashman and Will Hurd, both of whom have come on in each game of the championship so far.

Forwards Gregor Brown and Matt Fagerson join scrum-half George Horne, centre Stafford McDowall and Kyle Rowe, who will cover the back three, to make up a 5-3 split on the bench.

Scotland v Wales, Guinness Men’s Six Nations, Saturday, 8 March 2025, kick-off 4.45pm, Scottish Gas Murrayfield, live on BBC

15. Blair Kinghorn – Toulouse (58)
14. Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby (44)
13. Huw Jones – Glasgow Warriors (56)
12. Tom Jordan – Glasgow Warriors (6)
11. Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby (47)
10. Finn Russell – Co-Captain – Bath Rugby (85)
9. Ben White – Toulon (27)

1. Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby (40)
2. Dave Cherry – Edinburgh Rugby (14)
3. Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (73)
4. Jonny Gray – Bordeaux Bègles (80)
5. Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby (78)
6. Jamie Ritchie – Edinburgh Rugby (57)
7. Rory Darge – Co-Captain – Glasgow Warriors (28)
8. Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors (25)

Replacements

16. Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (25)
17. Rory Sutherland – Glasgow Warriors (39)
18. Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (7)
19. Gregor Brown – Glasgow Warriors (7)
20. Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (53)
21. George Horne – Glasgow Warriors (35)
22. Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (11)
23. Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (11)

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