WP Nel
WP Nel is due to start a test match for Scotland for the 1st time when they face Italy at BT Murrayfield on Saturday. The burly tighthead prop from Loeriesfontein qualifies to play for Scotland on residency grounds, having played for Edinburgh for the last 3 years. Nel who earned his 1st Scotland cap against Italy in Turin last weekend when he came on as a substitute in the 47th minunte is 1 of 14 changes that has been made to the starting team.
Sean Lamont is the only player who retains his place in the starting line-up from last week with several players in the match day squad making their 1st appearance in this series of warm-up matches.
Head coach Vern Cotter announced his team today and the starting line-up appears to be close to what could be considered his 1st choice 15. The halfbacks and fullback look to be Cotter’s favoured choices while there may still be 1 or 2 changes on the wings and 1 at centre. Up front we are likely to be seeing the 1st choice tight 5 in action while there will possibly still be a change or 2 to the loose forward trio.
There is some concern regarding the fitness of 3 key players who are still in the extended squad but must surely be facing a race against time to be available to make the Rugby World Cup with the Scotland squad to be announced in less than 5 days time. Winger Sean Maitland, centre Alex Dunbar and loosehead prop Ryan Grant are injured at the moment. The latter picked up an injury in the 1st of Scotland’s warm-up Tests, against Ireland, while Maitland and Dunbar are still recovering from long term injuries.
The omission of flanker, former Highlander John Hardie, who currently is not contracted to any club, from this match may be a bit puzzling. The New Zealander qualifies for Scotland due to having a Scottish grand parent and was fast tracked into the Scotland squad and made an impressive debut last weekend. This was his 1st match in quite a while as he had spent a large part of Super Rugby on the side lines and he left the field late in the 2nd half, with what looked to be cramp. One would have thought if he is to make the final squad that he would get more game time for the coaches to asses his ability and help with his match fitness. This makes one think that either it was more than just cramp that forced him off the field Saturday or Vern Cotter has already made up his mind on whether Hardie will go to this World Cup or not.
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (Captain), 8 David Denton, 7 John Barclay, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Robert Harley, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Matt Scott.