Ace finisher boosts Scotland for Wales showdown

Scotland have recalled winger Darcy Graham in the only change to the starting side for Saturday’s Six Nations clash at home to Wales.

The Edinburgh wing was concussed following a sickening clash of heads with his own co-captain Finn Russell during a 32-18 defeat by champions Ireland at Murrayfield on February 9 and missed the 16-15 loss away to England a fortnight ago.

Graham, who has scored 29 tries in 45 Tests, replaces Glasgow Warriors’ Kyle Rowe, who drops to the bench.

READ: Wales keep faith with familiar lineup

The 27-year-old Graham, Scotland’s second-highest try-scorer of all time, passed his head injury assessment before the England match on February 22. But Scotland’s coaches and medical staff decided upon a precautionary approach to ensure he was fully recovered given the severity of his clash with Russell.

Townsend, meanwhile, has reverted to a 5-3 split between forwards and backs on his bench after opting for a 6-2 formation against England, with scrum-half George Horne joining Rowe among the replacements.

Scotland are aiming to make it three wins in a row over Wales — now on a national record losing streak of 15 straight Test defeats — for the first time in the Six Nations era.

But another loss this championship would raise fresh questions over whether Townsend, whose contract expires in April next year, remains the right man to lead Scotland into the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

The former Scotland playmaker is the longest-serving head coach of the Dark Blues in the professional era, having been appointed in 2017. Townsend, however, has been unable to improve on Scotland’s record of never finishing higher than third in the Six Nations.

Scotland last won a championship back in the last edition of the old Five Nations in 1999.

Six Nations round 4 fixtures:
Saturday, 4.15pm: Ireland v France, Dublin
Saturday, 6.45pm: Scotland v Wales, Murrayfield
Sunday, 5pm: England v Italy, Twickenham

SCOTLAND — 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10Finn Russell (co-capt), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (co-capt), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Bench: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Stafford McDowall, 23 Kyle Rowe

WALES — 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Jac Morgan (c), 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Bench: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Joe Roberts

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Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images