Scotland name team to face Australia as one man earns first Autumn Nations start in reshaped back row

Ritchie, 28, came off the bench in the 32-15 defeat by South Africa a fortnight ago but gets the nod to start this weekend. He will play on the blindside flank, with Rory Darge at seven and Matt Fagerson at No 8. Fagerson, who will win his 50th cap, had been at six for the opening two autumn fixtures but moves to eight to replace Jack Dempsey who suffered a shoulder injury against the Springboks.

As expected, Gregor Townsend has restored his big guns for what is the final match of the November Tests. Only Darcy Graham retains his place from the starting side which beat Portugal 59-21 last Saturday.

It’s a strong-looking Scotland side, with Blair Kinghorn returning at full-back after he started on the wing against South Africa. Duhan van der Merwe completes the back three. He and Graham are tied on 29 tries each for their country which means they jointly hold the Scotland try record.

Captain Sione Tuipulotu is reunited with Glasgow Warriors club-mate Huw Jones in the centre and Finn Russell and Ben White form the halfback partnership. The front five is the same as the South Africa game, with Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman and Zander Fagerson in the front row and Grant Gilchrist and Scott Cummings in the second row.

“I’d imagine it’s one of the most experienced Scotland teams we have selected,” said head coach Townsend. “And they are in a really good place in terms of their leadership and what they’ve learned in the last year or two for us to go out and play our best rugby.”

On the bench, the front row replacements are hooker Dylan Richardson and props Rory Sutherland and Will Hurd; Alex Craig gets the nod ahead of Alex Samuel as second row cover and Josh Bayliss is the back-row replacement. The backs on the bench, George Horne, Tom Jordan and Kyle Rowe, are all versatile enough to cover a variety of positions.

Australia have won the first two games of their European tour, beating England and Wales. They round off their campaign against Ireland in Dublin a week on Saturday.

Scotland (v Australia, Sunday, 1.40pm, Scottish Gas Murrayfield) (caps in brackets):

15. Blair Kinghorn - Toulouse (54)

14. Darcy Graham - Edinburgh Rugby (41)

13. Huw Jones - Glasgow Warriors (52)

12. Sione Tuipulotu - Glasgow Warriors (29) CAPTAIN

11. Duhan van der Merwe - Edinburgh Rugby (43)

10. Finn Russell - Bath Rugby (81) VICE-CAPTAIN

9. Ben White - Toulon (23)

1. Pierre Schoeman - Edinburgh Rugby (36)

2. Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (21)

3. Zander Fagerson - Glasgow Warriors (69)

4. Grant Gilchrist - Edinburgh Rugby (74)

5. Scott Cummings - Glasgow Warriors (41)

6. Jamie Ritchie - Edinburgh Rugby (53)

7. Rory Darge - Glasgow Warriors (24) VICE-CAPTAIN

8. Matt Fagerson - Glasgow Warriors (49)

Replacements

16. Dylan Richardson - The Sharks (5)

17. Rory Sutherland - Glasgow Warriors (36)

18. Will Hurd - Leicester Tigers (3)

19. Alex Craig – Scarlets (5)

20. Josh Bayliss - Bath Rugby (9)

21. George Horne - Glasgow Warriors (33)

22. Tom Jordan - Glasgow Warriors (3)

23. Kyle Rowe - Glasgow Warriors (9)