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The Gregor Townsend verdict on his new-look Scotland back three
By PA
Gregor Townsend has explained he has full faith in the makeshift Scotland back three to handle the challenge of facing world champions South Africa on Sunday. Injuries sustained by wing Darcy Graham and full-back Kyle Rowe in last weekend’s 57-17 win over Fiji have forced the head coach into a reshuffle.
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Glasgow back Tom Jordan, predominantly a stand-off, has been selected to make his first international start at full-back a week after making his Test debut off the bench. Blair Kinghorn, who has become Scotland’s first-choice full-back since the retirement of Stuart Hogg, will shift to the wing, where he has been used for Toulouse this term.
“Obviously with losing Darcy and now Kyle, that got us thinking about what is the right combination,” said Townsend. “We had always looked at a 6/2 bench split for the Springboks, and Tom became someone that we would want to include in a match day 23.
“With his ability to play 10, 13, and also 15, we had thought that he could operate there at Test level. We didn’t think he would get that opportunity so quickly in his Test career. On his debut, I thought he was excellent. He was very brave.
“His position in the backfield has always been good when he has played at 10 for Glasgow. We know he is going to work really hard. With Blair having played a lot of rugby on the wing, not just over his career but this season, we feel that it is the best combination this weekend.”
The additions of Jordan and Kinghorn are two of four changes to the team that started the Fiji game, with Ben White and Finn Russell replacing the half-back partnership of Ali Price and Adam Hastings.
Eleven of the 15 players who started the Rugby World Cup pool-stage meeting between the teams in Marseille 14 months ago have been given the nod by Townsend to start again on Sunday.
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The head coach is confident lessons learned from that 18-3 defeat will stand Scotland in good stead as they aim to stem an eight-game losing run against the Springboks since their last triumph in the fixture in 2010.
“It’s exciting to be able to go to a game where you know you are taking on the world champions and it’s going to be a sell-out,” said Townsend. “You know that you’re going to have to play your best rugby to be in the game.
“It’s got everybody’s minds focused and the players are really relishing this opportunity. In the first game of the World Cup, there is probably more emotion that goes through the players’ minds about how important that game was, not only as a one-off game but our chances in the World Cup.
“The fact that we have played them, the players have felt what it is like to go up against the Springboks, from whatever area of the game is relevant to them. But also there is a lot of changes since then. Changes in maybe how we play, but certainly how they have played since the World Cup.
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“They are very innovative around what they want to do off set-piece, and they move the ball wide. They will play at pace, they will play much more of an open game, which wasn’t so much the case in the World Cup.
“Something that we really respect about the South African team is their consistency. They have delivered time and time again.”
