McDowall to lead Scotland against Maori All Blacks

Scotland’s first encounter with the Maori All Blacks, a first on their Pacific tour, will be led by Glasgow Warriors center Stafford McDowall.

In addition to Sione Tuipulotu, who was then injured, McDowall led Scotland in their Six Nations match against Portugal in November and played in all five of their matches.

One of two vice-captains who starts at scrum-half is his Warriors team-mate, George Horne, who plays back-row for Bath, Josh Bayliss.

Despite the fact that the Whangarei game is not a formal Test match, Horne is the most experienced player in Gregor Townsend’s starting 15 with 36 caps.

Rory Hutchinson, who was initially dropped out of the squad before getting injured with Edinburgh’s Matt Currie, is playing at fly-half and Adam Hastings is at Northampton Saints center.

In their most recent game, the Maori All Blacks defeated Japan XV 53-20.

According to Townsend, “The Maori and New Zealanders in particular, bring a physicality and a real quality to the contact area.”

“But they have a lot of talented players on their team, especially in the backs, where they look to express themselves.”

Hepburn, Hurd, Williamson, Brown, Masibaka, Burke, and Dobie are the replacements.

Fin Richardson, a Glasgow prop, and his teammate Nathan McBeth are the first to join a senior Scotland side in the forward, and Patrick Harrison, from Edinburgh, is the hooker.

After recently returning from a spell with the Kobe Steelers in Japan to join the Harlequins, George Turner will make his country return from the bench.

Fergus Burke, the uncapped flyhalf for the Saracens and Alexander Masibaka, who was born in New Zealand but qualified through Scottish grandparents, are also available in place.

Harry Paterson and Arron Reed both play for Scotland for the first time in a year on the wings, with Harry Reed from Sale and Harry Paterson from Edinburgh.

Ollie Smith, who has recovered from a knee injury, and second-row Cameron Henderson and openside flanker Andy Onyeama-Christie, both of whom have been recovering from lengthy layoffs, have also not played internationally since the 2023 World Cup.

With only two games left to go, the squad includes Darcy Graham, Tom Jordan, Kyle Steyn, Grant Gilchrist, and tour captain Rory Darge, who is also more experienced.

The evidence for our selection comes from our previous summer tour, which I believe included 11 new caps, a number of those players playing Tests in November, and then playing in the Six Nations, Townsend said.

The short-term plan is to go out and play well this weekend, put pressure on selection for the Fiji game and the Samoa game, and make the most of it all, so they leave a really positive impression on our minds as coaches for the upcoming season.