Duhan van der Merwe, Jamie Ritchie and Zander Fagerson are all notable absences from Scotland’s 23-man squad for Saturday’s clash with New Zealand at Murrayfield.
All three have been regular starters for Gregor Townsend in recent seasons.
While prop Fagerson is fighting a well-documented battle to regain fitness after being sidelined through injury since early April, joint-record scorer van der Merwe and former Scotland captain Ritchie are uninjured and have simply been overlooked for selection.
Glasgow wing Kyle Steyn started in place of British and Irish Lions winger Van der Merwe, who scored twice against the United States last weekend.
Kyle Steyn starts on the wing in place of Van der Merwe.
“Kyle’s form this season has been really rewarding, probably since he came back from injury after the Six Nations,” Townsend said.
“He was very good on the summer tour, but it’s really about this season. Not all of our players have been able to play multiple games leading up to this tournament, but Kyle has been consistently strong in all aspects of his game, so he’s earned this opportunity.”
Van der Merwe, who impressed during the 85-0 thrashing of the United States, was not included in the 23s, with versatile back duo Tom Jordan and Jamie Dovey preferring the bench.
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Van der Merwe scored a hat-trick for the British and Irish Lions against an AUNZ XV.
Asked how Van der Merwe took the news of his omission, Townsend said: “He was fine actually.” “It’s the first time Doohan has been left out of the Scotland team and it’s the first time I’ve had to leave him out. I get on really well with Doohan.
“Last week was a great opportunity for him to get his 50th cap. You could see how emotional he was about it. He really connected with the staff and players.
“Of course he will be disappointed, but he has trained well this week and that is all that is required of players. Let’s hope he can hide his disappointment and keep up with the team selected at the weekend.”
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A quick hand freed Van der Merwe against the Queensland Reds.
Edinburgh’s D’Arcy Rae is set to start at tighthead in Fagerson’s absence, while versatile Glasgow forward Gregor Brown, who most recently started in the second-row for Scotland, will line up as a blindside flanker in place of backrower Ritchie.
Ritchie, who enjoyed a strong Six Nations, also endured a difficult start to the season with Perpignan and was left out of the 23 Nations.
“Jamie played very well last year but then got injured in the Fiji game (in the summer),” Townsend said.
“It was difficult for him at Perpignan. They lost every game, but he actually did a lot of good things for Perpignan. We felt he was missed this week because other players are playing better.”
Northampton’s Rory Hutchinson is set to make a rare start at center with Huw Jones ruled out until the new year.
Forwards Elliot Millar Mills and Rory Darge were cleared to be included as substitutes to give Scotland their first win over New Zealand after recent injury problems.
The Granite City: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Sion Tuipulotu (c), 11 Kyle Stein, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; #1 Pierre Schumann, #2 Ewan Ashman, #3 Darcy Ray, #4 Scott Cummings, #5 Grant Gilchrist, #6 Gregor Brown, #7 Matt Fargerson, #8 Jack Dempsey.
shift: 16 George Turner, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Miller Mills, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Rory Dodge, 21 Josh Bayless, 22 Jamie Dovey, 23 Tom Jordan.
