Edinburgh: John Barclay will replace the injured Greig Laidlaw as Scotland captain for Saturday’s Six Nations international against Wales at Murrayfield.
Scrum-half Laidlaw was ruled out of the rest of the tournament after suffering an ankle injury that saw him go off during the first half of Scotland’s eventual 22-16 loss to France in Paris earlier this month.
Barclay took over the captaincy at the Stade de France and even the back-row forward also had to leave the field, with a shoulder and head injury, although he has since been passed fit,
The 30-year-old Barclay, who plays his club rugby in Wales for the Llanelli-based Scarlets, has been the official Scotland captain once before when standing in for the injured Mike Blair against New Zealand in 2010.
Scotland coach Vern Cotter has made five changes to his side, with three enforced through injury.
Laidlaw’s place will be taken by Ali Price, who came off the bench in Paris, with the Glasgow scrum-half set to make his first Test start this weekend.
Elsewhere in the backs, wing Tim Visser replaces Sean Maitland (rib injury), while in the pack back-row forward Ryan Wilson, recovered from the elbow infection that saw him miss the France game, comes in for the injured Josh Strauss (kidney).
Cotter has made two tactical changes in the pack, with back-row John Hardie and prop Gordon Reid respectively in for Hamish Watson and Allan Dell, who both drop down to the bench after starting Scotland’s opening two matches of the Championship.
Meanwhile, France coach Guy Noves has made three changes to his side for Saturday’s clash against Ireland in Dublin.
Rabah Slimani, Bernard Le Roux and Yoann Huget all start as Virimi Vakatawa, Loann Goujon and Unini Atonio drop out of the side that defeated Scotland 22-16 last time out.
Prop Slimani comes in at tight-head in place of Atonio, who drops to the bench, with flanker Le Roux and fullback Huget replacing injured pair Loann Goujon and Virimi Vakatawa.
Toulouse’s Huget has not featured since the first November Test against Samoa.
“The logic was (to replace Vakatawa by) Yoann who is returning to form”, after a serious knee injury during the opening game of the 2015 World Cup, Noves explained.
Vakatawa had been systemically selected since Noves took over as France coach but failed to fire against Scotland and was replaced early.
No fly-half has been named on the bench with scrum-half Baptiste Serin and fullback Scott Spedding ready to step in should Camille Lopez retire injured.
Racing 92’s Le Roux returns after being hampered by injuries since the 2016 Six Nations, as Charles Ollivon drops to the bench, to support Louis Picamoles and Kivin Gourdon.
Stade Francais prop Slimani comes in as Atonio struggled during the first two matches of the tournament with France losing their opener 19-16 at champions England.
“Rabah was convincing each time he came on, the scrum is one of Ireland’s strong points. It was logical to allow him to start, he is a very serious and very fit boy,” Noves added.
Uncapped centre Henry Chavancy and wing Djibril Camara are both on the bench.
Both Ireland and France won one and lost one of their opening two Six Nations games and a victory is vital to stay in the hunt to win this season’s championship.
France beat Scotland 22-16 in Paris last time out while Ireland thrashed Italy 63-10 in Rome.
Scotland team to play Wales in a Six Nations international on Saturday:
Scotland (15-1)
Stuart Hogg; Tommy Seymour, Huw Jones, Alex Dunbar, Tim Visser; Finn Russell, Ali Price; Ryan Wilson, John Hardie, John Barclay (capt); Jonny Gray, Richie Gray; Zander Fagerson, Fraser Brown, Gordon Reid
Replacements: Ross Ford, Allan Dell, Simon Berghan, Tim Swinson, Hamish Watson, Henry Pyrgos, Duncan Weir, Mark Bennett
France team to play Ireland in a Six Nations international on Saturday:
France
Scott Spedding; Yoann Huget, Remi Lamerat, Gael Fickou, Noa Nakaitaci; Camille Lopez, Baptiste Serin; Kevin Gourdon, Louis Picamoles, Bernard Le Roux; Yoann Maestri, Sebastien Vahaamahina; Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado (capt), Cyril Baille
Replacements: Christopher Tolofua, Uini Atonio, Eddy Ben Arous, Julien Le Devedec, Charles Ollivon, Maxime Machenaud, Henry Chavancy, Djibril Camara.
