New captain for Scotland
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Grant Gilchrist will captain Scotland for the first time since 2018 this Saturday against Argentina.
The occasion will mark an already memorable year in the dark blue jersey for Gilchrist having made his 50th Scotland appearance in February against Wales. He will start the match alongside Jonny Gray in the second row.
In the back row, Luke Crosbie is named following his stint as captain of Scotland A against Chile last weekend. It will be Crosbie’s first international start having already made his debut off the bench against Tonga last year.
He will start alongside fellow Edinburgh Rugby flank Magnus Bradbury. Glasgow Warriors’ back-row Matt Fagerson will once again start at number eight.
Pierre Schoeman was named on the bench against Chile and he has been promoted to the starting line-up alongside Warriors’ prop Zander Fagerson. George Turner will also start the game having arrived in South America a little later than the full squad, having recovered from illness.
Ali Price and Blair Kinghorn will start as the 9 and 10 pairing for the second consecutive occasion having played together against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in March. Ali Price will assist Grant Gilchrist as Vice-Captain.
Duhan van der Merwe missed the last two games of the Six Nations through a suspension and he makes his return to the starting line-up. In his last Scotland appearance he scored a try against France at BT Murrayfield. Darcy Graham will occupy the other flank.
Mark Bennett will start his first Scotland game since 2016 when he played against Georgia at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock. His inclusion tops off an impressive last month where he was named as Edinburgh Rugby’s Player of the Season. He will partner Glasgow Warriors centre Sam Johnson.
At fullback Rory Hutchison will start the game with his last appearance coming in 2020 when he came off the bench against Italy. The versatile back has been in top form for Northampton Saints this season.
On the bench, Sale Sharks’ hooker Ewan Ashman will aim to make his first Scotland appearance since the 2021 Autumn Tests where he scored a memorable winning try against Australia at BT Murrayfield.
After missing the majority of the Six Nations, picking up an injury against England, British & Irish Lion, Rory Sutherland is also named on the bench.
Back-row Rory Darge will also make his long-awaited return from injury after being named as Glasgow Warriors Player of the Season last month.
London Irish scrumhalf Ben White is included as replacement scrum-half, with fellow halfback Ross Thompson also named on the bench. Sam Skinner, who joins Edinburgh Rugby for the new season, is also selected as a replacement alongside Javan Sebastian and Sione Tuipulotu – who both featured in Scotland A match against Chile.
Not included in the matchday 23 are Damien Hoyland, Ben Muncaster, Matt Currie, Jamie Hodgson and Johnny Matthews who have returned to Scotland following their involvement in Scotland A match against Chile last weekend.
Scotland: 15 Rory Hutchinson, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Blair Kinghorn, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Rory Darge, 21 Ben White, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Sione Tuipulotu.
Date: Saturday, July 2
Venue: Estadio 23 de Agosto, San Salvador de Jujuy
Kick-off: 16.05 (20.05 Scotland time; 19.05 GMT)
Referee: Nic Berry (RA)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (FFR) & Pierre Brousset (FFR)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
