Scotland make one change for Six Nations clash with France as Stuart Hogg wins 50th cap
Fraser Brown and Finn Russell have both recovered from injuries picked up last weekend
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Your support makes all the difference.Vern Cotter has made one change to the Scotland side that beat Ireland in the opening weekend of the Six Nations for their trip to Paris on Sunday.
John Barclay comes in at blindside for Ryan Wilson after the latter was ruled out after failing to recover from an elbow infection, with Edinburgh’s John Hardie taking up the vacant spot among the replacements.
That means that hooker Fraser Brown and fly-half Finn Russell are both fit enough to start after they went off injured in the first half during last weekend’s game at Murrayfield.
Stuart Hogg will win his 50th cap for the Scots after making a blistering start to the championships, with two tries against Ireland to set up a famous win.
On Hogg’s half century, Cotter said: “Congratulations to Hoggy on what will be a special milestone.
“It’s a fantastic personal achievement, especially at such a young age, which is a good indication of how talented an individual he is and how important he’s been to Scotland teams over the past five years.
“He’s a very exciting player and, at just 24, he has a huge amount to offer Scotland for many more years to come.”
Other than Wilson’s inclusion, Scotland are unchanged and are looking to make it two wins from two against a promising-looking France side which pushed England all the way at Twickenham in their first game of the tournament, and Cotter is aware of the challenge ahead at the Stade de France.
“France in Paris is a monumental challenge,” Cotter added. “They have improved markedly since Guy Noves took charge and will be smarting since their narrow defeat to England at Twickenham last weekend.
“We’re their next opportunity to get their campaign up and running and they’ll be intent on throwing every part of their considerable fire power at us this Sunday.
“We’ll have to match their ferocity while ensuring we take that – and all the other battles we can expect in this game – on our terms, whether that’s in collisions, in set-piece, at the breakdown or in the air.
“This will be an excellent test for this group of players: mentally, physically, tactically and of our skillsets under pressure.
“We will need to be at our relentless best once again.”
Scotland team to face France:
Hogg, Maitland, Jones, Dunbar, Seymour, Russell, Laidlaw; Dell, Brown, Fagerson, R Gray, J Gray, Barclay, Watson, Strauss.
Replacements: Ford, Reid, Berghan, Swinson, Hardie, Price, Weir, Bennett.
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