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Hogg maintained as Scotland change 14 for France clash

LaidlawSB2000
Stuart Hogg is the only player to keep his place for Scotland as Gregor Townsend makes 14 changes for the reverse fixture against France at BT Murrayfield.

Stuart Hogg is the only player to keep his place for Scotland as Gregor Townsend makes 14 changes for the reverse fixture against France at BT Murrayfield.

The Scots, who finished fifth in the 2019 Guinness Six Nations, were beaten 32-3 in Nice last weekend in their opening World Cup warm-up match, and will be looking for a much-improved display on home soil.

They have beaten Les Bleus in each of their last two meetings in Edinburgh and will have the experienced half-back pair of Greig Laidlaw and Finn Russell pulling the strings on Saturday.

Laidlaw, who like Russell plays his club rugby in France, will captain the side with last week’s skipper Stuart McInally not involved.

The pack is completely changed with a debut for Blade Thomson of the Scarlets while Glasgow Warriors’ Scott Cummings gets his first start in the second row alongside Sam Skinner.

Townsend has warned that his team will need to deny France space in order to turn things around.

He said: “Our first outing of the season was a disappointment and not reflective of the hard work our players have put in over the past two months.

“France are a very dangerous side if you give them space and quick ball to play, which is what we allowed to happen on too many occasions last week. Our focus all week has been to remedy this and also create much more from our attacking game.

“It was a stark reminder of how tough things can be at international level if our standards slip.

“We expect our players to show a much truer picture of themselves this Saturday.”

Scotland will open their World Cup campaign against Ireland after two further warm-up clashes with Georgia.

Scotland team to face France:

15. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) 14. Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) 13. Chris Harris (Gloucester) 12. Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 11. Sean Maitland (Exeter Chiefs) 10. Finn Russell (Racing 92) 9. Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne) (c)

1. Gordon Reid (Ayrshire Bulls) 2. George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 3. Willem Nel (Edinburgh) 4. Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 5. Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) 6. Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) 7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) 8. Blade Thomson (Scarlets)

Replacements:

16. Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors) 17. Allan Dell (London Irish) 18. Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) 19. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) 20. John Barclay (Edinburgh) 21. George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 22. Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints) 23. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh)