New captain for Scotland in Portugal clash

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has named centre Stafford McDowall as captain ahead of their clash with Portugal, with Sione Tuipulotu falling out of the matchday squad.

McDowall has led the side before against Canada.

He will be partnered by Rory Hutchinson who will play for Scotland for the first time since 2022 against Argentina.

Darcy Graham is back to take his spot on the wing after suffering a concussion against Fiji whom he scored four tries against earlier this month.

Aaron Reed will be his opposite wing after making his debut against Canada, with Tom Jordan retaining his place at fullback.

Glasgow Warriors duo Adam Hastings and George Horne will be the halfback pairing with Horne named the vice captain.

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In the forwards, Patrick Harrison and Will Hurd will earn their third respective caps with Jamie Dobie also starting in the front row.

Alex Samuel is set to make his debut at lock after two impressive seasons with Glasgow since making his debut in 2022, and has been involved in previous national training squads.

He will be partnered by Alex Craig.

No.8 Josh Bayliss remains in the matchday squad following his involvement in the thrilling clash against the Springboks last weekend.

He will be joined by fellow loose forwards in debutant Ben Muncaster and Luke Crosbie who’s also been named as a vice captain.

Muncaster has been involved in the Scotland squad previously, and has played for Scotland ‘A’ against Chile in 2022.

On the bench, one capped Johnny Matthews is named after making his Scotland try-scoring debut against Romania in World Cup 2023.

Elliot Millar Mills retains his spot on the replacement bench along with Rory Sutherland.

Ewan Johnson is selected as lock replacement, having made his debut previously this year.

19-year-old Freddie Douglas is in line for a possible Test debut off the bench, and would become Scotland’s youngest debutant since Donald White in 1963.

The powerful loose forward represented Scotland U18 just 18 months ago in the 2023 U18 Six Nations Festival, and joined the Scottish Rugby academy aligned to Edinburgh in 2023.

He has featured for Edinburgh ‘A’ this season and also represented Scotland U20 in the U20 Six Nations and World Rugby U20 tournament in 2024.

He made the most tackles (77) and breakdown turnovers (12) in the U20 Six Nations.

Jamie Dobie is selected on the bench alongside Kyle Rowe, who returns after missing the Springbok clash through injury.

Matt Curry is set to make his first Scotland apperance at Murrayfield.

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Scotland: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Stafford McDowall (captain), 11 Aaron Reed, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne (vice captain), 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Ben Muncaster, 6 Luke Crosbie (vice captain), 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Will Hurd, 2 Patrick Harrison, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Ewan Johnson, 20 Freddie Douglas, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Matt Currie, 23 Kyle Rowe.

Date: Saturday, November 16
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 15.10 GMT
Referee: Takehito Namekawa (Japan)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Anthony Woodthorpe (England)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)