Injured duo return for Scotland's final warm-up match
Thursday 3 September 2015 14:29, UK
Sean Maitland and Tommy Seymour have recovered from injury and been named in Scotland's final World Cup warm-up match, against France on Saturday.
The duo have been absent from the summer's international action with shoulder and back injuries respectively, but have recovered to be named among five changes to the side that defeated Italy 48-7 at Murrayfield last weekend.
Centre Matt Scott comes in to start alongside Mark Bennett in the remaining change to the back division, while the inclusion of back-row John Hardie and lock Richie Gray complete the changes to the pack.
New Zealand-born Hardie is a controversial inclusion as he only touched down on Scottish soil for the first time five weeks ago and has less than an hour of international Test action under his belt.
Scotland head coach Vern Cotter said: "We were pleased with a number of aspects of our performance against Italy but feel we still have a lot of work to get through before we begin the Rugby World Cup.
"France are a very powerful and skilful side so this match will provide another good assessment for this group, and another valuable insight into where we are at as a squad."
Saturday's match against France is the national team's final summer Test before the 31-man squad embarks on its Rugby World Cup campaign in a fortnight's time.
Scotland: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c); 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Willem Nel, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Hardie, 8 David Denton.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Alasdair Strokosch, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Sean Lamont.
