Scotland bring in John Barclay to replace Ryan Wilson for France clash
Friday 10 February 2017 13:11, UK
John Barclay will replace the injured Ryan Wilson in Scotland's only change for their Six Nations match against France on Sunday.
The flanker has been drafted in for the clash in Paris after Wilson was forced to drop out with an elbow infection following his side's opening victory over Ireland.
Fraser Brown and Finn Russell both retain their starting places despite going off with injuries in the 27-22 win over the Irish at Murrayfield last weekend.
Hooker Brown was replaced after 25 minutes with an eye injury, while Russell was substituted early in the second half with a head knock but both have been cleared to play.
Edinburgh's John Hardie had been due to start against Ulster in the Guinness PRO12 on Friday night but has been named in the available spot on the bench for the Scots.
"France in Paris is a monumental challenge. They have improved markedly since Guy Noves took charge and will be smarting since their narrow defeat to England at Twickenham last weekend," head coach Vern Cotter told the Scotland Rugby website.
"We're their next opportunity to get their campaign up and running and they'll be intent on throwing every part of their considerable fire power at us this Sunday.
"We'll have to match their ferocity while ensuring we take that - and all the other battles we can expect in this game - on our terms, whether that's in collisions, in set-piece, at the breakdown or in the air.
"This will be an excellent test for this group of players: mentally, physically, tactically and of our skillsets under pressure. We will need to be at our relentless best once again."
Instrumental full-back Stuart Hogg will become the youngest player to reach 50 caps for Scotland against France at the age of 24 years and 233 days and Cotter was full of praise for the Glasgow Warriors man.
"Congratulations to Hoggy on what will be a special milestone," Cotter added. "It's a fantastic personal achievement, especially at such a young age, which is a good indication of how talented an individual he is and how important he's been to Scotland teams over the past five years.
"He's a very exciting player and, at just 24, he has a huge amount to offer Scotland for many more years to come."
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c); 1 Allan Dell, 2 Fraser Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 John Barclay, 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Josh Strauss.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 John Hardie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett.
