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Townsend changes four for Scotland clash against Tonga / Photo: © AFP/File
Townsend changes four for Scotland clash against Tonga
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has made four changes to his starting XV for their second World Cup Pool B match against Tonga in Nice on Sunday.
Prop Rory Sutherland and second-row Scott Cummings come into the pack for Pierre Schoeman and Grant Gilchrist respectively, while centre Chris Harris and wing Kyle Steyn start in the backline, with Huw Jones and Darcy Graham dropping to the bench.
Ewan Ashman, Sam Skinner and George Horne also come into the match-day 23.
Scotland kicked off their World Cup campaign with a disappointing 18-3 defeat by defending champions South Africa.
After playing Tonga, who went down 59-16 to Ireland in their opener, Scotland then take on lowly Romania in Lille on September 30 before wrapping up pool play against the Irish in Paris on October 7.
Townsend said the players were chomping at the bit to play again.
"For the players, after a defeat you want to be able to play again straight away," he said. "As coaches, maybe (it’s a good thing).
"We've been able to train hard, we've had social time with the families, we feel we're further ahead having had those moments on and off the field."
Townsend added: "Time's a good a healer. We didn't meet to talk about rugby until the Wednesday night or Thursday morning. By that time, the result isn't as raw or fresh in the players' minds.
"The response we've had in training has been excellent. The players are in a really good space physically and you can see the determination that they want to play better this time."
The former Scotland and British and Irish Lion said he had picked his strongest team for a must-win match.
"We know this is a really important game for us so we've put as strong a team as we can to win it," he said.
"The last 20 minutes are going to be important so to have players like Darcy Graham, Huw Jones and George Horne coming off the bench will give us something different."
Scotland (15-1)
Blair Kinghorn; Kyle Steyn, Chris Harris, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell, Ben White; Jack Dempsey, Rory Darge, Jamie Ritchie (capt); Scott Cummings, Richie Gray; Zander Fagerson, George Turner, Rory Sutherland
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Pierre Schoeman, WP Nel, Sam Skinner, Matt Fagerson, George Horne, Huw Jones, Darcy Graham
Coach: Gregor Townsend (SCO)
M.Hill--SFF
