11 Warriors selected for Guinness Six Nations opener

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 20: Stafford McDowall during a Scotland men's training session at the Oriam, on January 20, 2025, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Five of the Warriors selected will start Saturday’s clash at the home of Scottish rugby, with Scotland looking to open their account with a win for the fifth championship in succession.

Rory Darge is named as one of Scotland’s co-captains for Saturday’s clash, the openside flanker joined by Matt Fagerson – who earned his 50^th cap in November’s victory over Australia – in the back-row.

Zander Fagerson is the most-capped Warrior selected amongst the matchday 23, the tight-head set to win his 71^st cap in a Scotland jersey on Saturday afternoon.

An all-Glasgow centre partnership sees Huw Jones – another to have brought up a half-century of caps during the Autumn Nations Series – paired with Stafford McDowall in the midfield, the Stewartry product having also started in Scotland’s final Guinness Six Nations match of 2024.

Six of the eight replacements named by Townsend and his coaching team ply their trade at Scotstoun, including Gregor Brown, who is set to make his Guinness Six Nations debut after being selected in the number 19 jersey.

Rory Sutherland provides the cover at loose-head, whilst Jack Dempsey will make his first Scotland appearance since sustaining an arm injury against South Africa in November should he come off the bench this weekend.

Tom Jordan is another set for his first outing in the Guinness Six Nations after an impressive autumn campaign, as the fly-half joins George Horne and Kyle Rowe in covering the backline for Saturday’s clash.

Supporters can watch the match live on BBC One on Saturday afternoon, with kick-off scheduled for 2.15pm.

Scotland team to face Italy on Saturday, 1 February 2025, kick-off 2:15pm at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, live on BBC One Scotland (caps in brackets):

15. Blair Kinghorn – Toulouse (55)
14. Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby (42)
13. Huw Jones – Glasgow Warriors (53)
12. Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (8)
11. Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby (44)
10. Finn Russell – Bath Rugby (82) CO-CAPTAIN
9. Ben White – Toulon (24)

1. Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby (37)
2. Dave Cherry – Edinburgh Rugby (11)
3. Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (70)
4. Jonny Gray – Bordeaux Bègles (77)
5. Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby (75)
6. Jamie Ritchie – Edinburgh Rugby (54)
7. Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors (25) CO-CAPTAIN
8. Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (50)

Replacements

16. Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (22)
17. Rory Sutherland – Glasgow Warriors (37)
18. Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (4)
19. Gregor Brown – Glasgow Warriors (4)
20. Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors (22)
21. George Horne – Glasgow Warriors (34)
22. Tom Jordan – Glasgow Warriors (3)
23. Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (9)