Six Nations 2020: Sam Skinner returns for Scotland as one of three changes for Wales clash
Thursday 12 March 2020 12:43, UK
Sam Skinner has been handed his first start of this year's Six Nations as one of three changes for Scotland's clash with Wales on Saturday.
Exeter Chiefs second row Skinner played off the replacements bench in the 28-17 win over France last Sunday after recovering from an injury which looked set to rule him out of the tournament and is now set to start in Cardiff.
Hooker Stuart McInally, who was one of Scotland's try-scorers against France, and No. 8 Magnus Bradbury are the other two players who switch from the bench to the starting XV as well, with Fraser Brown and Scott Cummings dropping to the bench.
"We set out this season to improve our consistency over a run of five tough games, something we have done well so far," Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said.
"We've stayed in the fight in every game, which is a credit to how hard the players have worked in training and during the Tests.
"We've still got a lot to improve on and we'll have to fight even harder on Saturday in Cardiff, which is one of the best and toughest places to play Test rugby."
There is another change on the replacements bench as Matt Fagerson comes into the match-day squad due to Brabury earning a start and Nick Haining unavailable due to illness.
Meanwhile, the backs stay unchanged for the third match in a row and that means skipper Stuart Hogg will move into joint-seventh on Scotland's all-time appearance list, joining Jason White and Nathan Hines on 77 caps.
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price; 1 Rory Sutherland, 2 Stuart McInally, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Sam Skinner, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Jamie Ritche, 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Magnus Bradbury.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Adam Dell, 18 WP Nel, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Kyle Steyn.
