Pierre Schoeman has been relegated to the bench after Scotland coach Gregor Townsend rang the changes for Saturday’s Six Nations clash against England at Murrayfield.
The South African loosehead is one of several Edinburgh players to lose their place in the starting XV following last week’s 18-15 defeat to Italy in Rome.
Schoeman, hooker Ewan Ashman, lock Grant Gilchrist and loose forward Matt Fagerson have all been dropped, with Townsend opting for Jamie Ritchie, Gregor Brown, Nathan McBeth and George Turner in a reshuffled pack.
MORE: Franco to take over from Townsend?
Glasgow prop McBeth will make his first Six Nations start.
There is still no place in the match 23 for winger Duhan van der Merwe, while British & Irish Lions fullback Blair Kinghorn also misses out again. Darcy Graham is included on the bench as part of a 5-3 split between forwards and backs.
Townsend has retained the same backline that started against Italy, despite the disappointing result.
AFRICA PICKS: Wooden spoon Wales, French favourites and Six Nations market moves
Scotland’s two professional sides are enduring contrasting seasons. Glasgow sit top of the Vodacom URC table and have claimed Investec Champions Cup wins over Toulouse and Saracens, while Edinburgh are down in 13th place in the 16-team URC standings.
The omission of Gilchrist, Schoeman and Ashman means there are no Edinburgh players in Scotland’s starting XV for rugby’s oldest international fixture.
SUPERBRU: Poms outplay Scots, Les Bleus batter Wales
England arrive in Edinburgh on a 12-match unbeaten run after last weekend’s 48-7 demolition of Wales at Twickenham.
However, Scotland have enjoyed recent dominance in this fixture under Townsend, winning five and drawing one of the past eight Calcutta Cup encounters. England have not won at Murrayfield since 2020.
SCOTLAND – 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Nathan McBeth.
Bench: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Darcy Graham.
Photo: Ross MacDonald/SNS Group via Getty Images
The post Schoeman benched, still no Duhan for Scotland appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
