Johnson returns as eight Warriors named for Georgia test

• 29 Aug 2019

Glasgow Warriors centre Sam Johnson has been named in the Scotland starting lineup for Saturday evening’s meeting with Georgia, in what will be the final match before Gregor Townsend names his 31-man squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The 26-year-old
– who made his debut against Italy earlier this year – burst onto the international
scene during the 2019 Guinness Six Nations, scoring against Ireland at BT
Murrayfield before his unforgettable score at Twickenham in March.

He will be
one of two Glasgow representatives in the starting lineup, as Townsend makes 10
changes to the team that beat France at BT Murrayfield last weekend.

Up front,
Matt Fagerson will make his first Scotland start since November’s victory over
Fiji in Edinburgh, having impressed as a replacement in Nice a fortnight ago.

The Perth-born
back-rower will look to transfer his end-of-season form for the Warriors to the
international arena, after claiming the man-of-the-match award in Glasgow’s
Guinness PRO14 semi-final win over Ulster at Scotstoun back in May.

The Warriors
are well represented amongst the substitutes, with six of Dave Rennie’s squad
set to play a role from the bench this weekend.

Grant
Stewart will be looking to build on his debut cameo in a Scotland shirt, with
Zander Fagerson coming back into the matchday 23 after missing the win over
France.

Scott
Cummings is involved for the third match in succession, reverting to the bench
after his first senior international start.

All three of
Scotland’s back-line replacements return to the matchday squad after starting
in Nice, as Ali Price, Adam Hastings and Huw Jones come back into the fold for
Scotland’s first-ever match in Tbilisi.

Scotland team to play Georgia in the Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi

(kick-off 5pm BST, 8pm local time) – live on Premier Sports

15. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 13 caps

14. Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) – 5 caps

13. Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints) – 2 caps

12. Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps

11. Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 41 caps

10. Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 44 caps

9. Greig Laidlaw VICE CAPTAIN (Clermont Auvergne) 72 caps

1. Allan Dell (London Irish) – 23 caps

2. Stuart McInally CAPTAIN (Edinburgh) – 28 caps

3. Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 30 caps

4. Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) – 19 caps

5. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 35 caps

6. John Barclay VICE CAPTAIN (Edinburgh) – 73 caps

7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 26 caps

8. Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps

Substitutes:

16. Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors) – 1 cap

17. Jamie Bhatti (Edinburgh) – 14 caps

18. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 20 caps

19. Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) – 2 caps

20. Josh Strauss (Blue Bulls) – 23 caps

21. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 25 caps

22. Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps

23. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 22 caps