‘Test-match animal’: Finn Russell replacement backed as Scotland playmaker loses fitness fight

Russell has still not recovered from the calf injury which ruled him out of Bath’s final games of the English season but the hope is that he will be fit for Scotland’s second match in the new tournament, against South Africa in Pretoria on July 11.

It’s an extremely challenging start to the Nations Championship for Scotland but Townsend is confident that Jordan and back-up stand-off Fergus Burke of Saracens can handle the opener against the Pumas who are ranked fifth in the world, two places above Scotland, and who defeated Townsend’s side 33-24 in Edinburgh last November.

Jordan’s previous Scotland starts have been at centre and full-back but he has been playing regularly at fly-half for Bristol Bears and it was the position he played in most often across three seasons with Glasgow Warriors.

“We're blessed with the 10s that we have on this tour,” said Townsend. “Tom's played all season really at 10 [for Bristol], when AJ MacGinty picked up an injury.

Big calls at tighthead and on the wing

“He's a Test-match animal. He brings so much energy and is able to bring his own game when he plays for Scotland. We're looking forward to seeing him start. And then Fergus Burke on the bench has probably been the form 10 in England over the last two months of the season.”

Nevertheless, the unavailability of Russell is a blow and Townsend hopes the playmaker can recover fully in time to face the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld.

“He trained fully yesterday [Wednesday], so we feel he'll be available for selection next week, but we'll just see how that goes over the next few days,” said the Scotland coach.

Russell is not the only high-profile absentee in the backline. Neither Blair Kinghorn nor Huw Jones are touring with Scotland this summer and Townsend has opted to replace them with Kyle Rowe and Rory Hutchinson at full-back and outside centre, respectively.

Rowe enjoyed a strong season with Glasgow while Hutchinson was part of the Northampton Saints side crowned English champions last month. He is preferred to Stafford McDowall and will partner captain Sione Tuipulotu in the midfield.

Jamie Dobie and Kyle Steyn fill the wing berths, with Dobie getting the nod ahead of Darcy Graham, who is on the bench. Duhan van der Merwe is not in the 23. Dobie has played just one club game since injuring his shoulder in the Calcutta Cup win in February but Townsend believes he deserves this chance.

50-cap milestone for two

“Jamie and Kyle were our starting wingers against England,” said the coach. “Jamie played very well in that game so we feel he deserves this opportunity now.”

Up front, another Northampton title winner, Elliot Millar Mills, starts at tighthead prop ahead of Zander Fagerson who is on the bench.

“For Zander, he's got real competition,” added Townsend. “We've got four tightheads on tour and Zander we know can make a difference off the bench too. He was on the bench when we played France this year with D’arcy [Rae] starting and we felt that was a really good mix and use of our 23. It is a 23-man game. Earlier we talked about momentum swings. A lot of those momentum swings are because of players that come off the bench and change the course of the game.”

Gregor Hiddleston is in line to make his Scotland debut after being selected as replacement hooker.

The game marks a significant milestone for Schoeman and lock forward Scott Cummings who will both win their 50th caps. It will be Cummings’ first international appearance since recovering from a calf injury picked up in the Six Nations win over France in early March.

Cummings is joined in the second row by Jonny Gray who is the most experienced member of the starting XV on 81 caps. It will be Gray’s first Scotland appearance since the 2025 Six Nations.

The back row is the now familiar combination of Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge and Jack Dempsey.

Scotland team to play Argentina (Nations Championship, Saturday, Cordoba, 8.10pm BST)

Scotland: 15 Kyle Rowe; 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (capt), 11 Jamie Dobie; 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Ben White; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 4 Jonny Gray, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey.

Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Gregor Brown, 21, George Horne, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Darcy Graham.