Hogg gets World Cup start against Ireland

By Mark Stevens
20/9/19

Exeter Chiefs full-back Stuart Hogg is named amongst an experienced Scotland side for their Rugby World Cup opener with Ireland in Yokohama on Sunday.

Summer signing Hogg lines-up in an experienced back three, which also includes Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland.

Elsewhere, Stuart McInally leads the side from hooker, and is joined by club colleagues past and present either side of him, with London Irish prop Allan Dell taking the loosehead berth, and WP Nel on the tighthead.

Behind them, Grant Gilchrist and Jonny Grey provide the bulk in the engine room with the pack completed with the back-row trip of Edinburgh pair John Barclay and Hamish Watson, as well as No.8 Ryan Wilson.

Greig Laidlaw and Finn Russell move ever closer to breaking the record number of appearances for a Scottish half-back partnership, while in midfield Sam Johnson holds off Glasgow Warriors’ club-mate Peter Horne to take the number 12 jersey, and he will be joined in midfield by Saracens’ Duncan Taylor.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s clash, Townsend said: “We’ve had a really productive week’s preparation in Nagasaki ahead of our arrival in Tokyo, with our players adapting to the time zone and weather conditions out here in Japan.

“As we’ve got closer to the game our training has been more about fine-tuning the hard work that’s gone in over pre-season into a focus for Sunday’s game.

“Our team has a lot of experience playing together in major games for Scotland, with a bench capable of making a difference when required. That cohesion, experience and leadership is very valuable in a build-up to a match of this magnitude as well as during the 80 minutes on Sunday.”

Ireland will be without experienced trio Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, Joey Carberry and Robbie Henshaw for the game on Sunday, but Townsend - whose brother Craig played for the Chiefs - knows the threat they will pose to his side’s chances.

“In Ireland we face a quality opposition who, over the past number of years, have earned the right to be the number one ranked side in the world,” he said.

“We know them well and are well aware of the strengths they possess throughout their squad. We expect them to play very well, as they did in their most recent games against Wales, so only our best performance will do in order to win.

“The prospect of facing them in the opening round of a Rugby World Cup is a fantastic challenge for our players and supporters around the world.”

Scotland team to play Ireland:

15 Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs)
14 Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors)
13 Duncan Taylor (Saracens)
12 Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors)
11 Sean Maitland (Saracens)
10 Finn Russell (Racing 92)
9 Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne)
1 Allan Dell (London Irish)
2 Stuart McInally (Edinburgh, capt)
3 WP Nel (Edinburgh)
4 Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh)
5 Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors)
6 John Barclay (Edinburgh)
7 Hamish Watson (Edinburgh)
8 Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors)

Replacements
16 Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors)
17 Gordon Reid (Ayrshire Bulls)
18 Simon Berghan (Edinburgh)
19 Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors)
20 Blade Thomson (Scarlets)
21 Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors)
22 Chris Harris (Gloucester)
23 Darcy Graham (Edinburgh)