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Cape Town - Scotland Coach Vern Cotter has added international experience to the Scotland side named to face Georgia at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock this Saturday.
There are five new faces in the starting line-up who add a further 125 caps to the side that overcame Argentina 19-16 in Edinburgh last weekend.
Centre Mark Bennett is the only change to the back division, with the Olympic silver medallist replacing the injured Huw Jones (foot) to confirm a homecoming to the Ayrshire ground.
It will be Bennett’s first game at the stadium, having missed the outings of both Scotland and Glasgow Warriors in previous years. It will be his first Scotland appearance since February.
Bennett will reform a familiar midfield partnership with clubmate Alex Dunbar in front of returning back-three players Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland and Tommy Seymour.
The remaining changes occur in the pack, with cap centurion Ross Ford returning to the starting front-row alongside returning props Allan Dell and Zander Fagerson.
Lock Richie Gray has recovered from his suspected concussion to re-join brother Jonny in the second-row, while Rob Harley and Ryan Wilson come in to start in the back-row with the reinstated Hamish Watson.
The match will be Harley’s first start since the 2015 6 Nations. Hooker Fraser Brown, lock Grant Gilchrist and John Barclay - who started last week’s game - are selected on the bench as consequence of the changes, while a further change to the replacements sees Rory Hughes selected in place of Tim Visser.
Teams:
Scotland
15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Del
Substitutes: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Moray Low, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 John Barclay, 21 Ali Price, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Rory Hughes
Georgia
TBA
