Hardie given a chance against France
He was named Thursday in the side to play France in their final warm-up match in Paris on Saturday.
The New Zealand-born flank got into coach Vern Cotter's 31-man tournament squad ahead of both John Barclay and Blair Cowan.
Hardie, 27, qualified for Scotland through his Fife-born grandparents, only arrived on Scottish soil for the first time five weeks ago and has played less than an hour of Test rugby.
His inclusion was labelled a disgrace to Scottish-born players by former Scotland and British and Irish Lions prop Peter Wright.
Hardie, currently without a club after leaving New Zealand's Highlanders, will now be in the spotlight when Kiwi coach Cotter's side face France ahead of their World Cup opener against Japan in Gloucester, south-west England, on September 23.
The openside flank was one of five changes to the side that thrashed Italy 48-7 at Murrayfield last weekend.
Sean Maitland and Tommy Seymour, who missed Scotland's previous warm-up Tests against Ireland and the two against Italy, are both back.
Maitland was ruled out with a shoulder injury while back trouble sidelined Seymour.
Centre Matt Scott starts alongside Mark Bennett in place of Peter Horne while, up front, Richie Gray starts at lock alongside brother Jonny in place of Grant Gilchrist.
"We were pleased with a number of aspects of our performance against Italy but feel we still have a lot of work to get through before we begin the Rugby World Cup," said Cotter, with France having beaten tournament hosts England 25-20 in their previous warm-up fixture.
"France are a very powerful and skilful side so this match will provide another good assessment for this group, and another valuable insight into where we are at as a squad," Cotter added.
Scotland: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Alasdair Strokosch, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Sean Lamont.
Date: Saturday, September 5
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 21.00 (20.00 UK time, 19.00 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: JP Doyle (England), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
Agence France-Presse
