Kinghorn & Van der Merwe return for Scots in Wales

Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe will bring "freshness" to the Scotland team, says Gregor Townsend after he named the duo in the backs for Saturday's Six Nations meeting with Wales in Cardiff.

Kinghorn's return at full-back and Scotland's record try scorer Van der Merwe's place on the wing are two of five changes made by Townsend following last Saturday's victory in the Calcutta Cup.

In the pack, Dave Cherry is in at hooker, Max Williamson takes up a place in the second row and Matt Fagerson joins the back row, with Gregor Brown moving from four to six.

"Blair was back playing on Sunday night for Toulouse and played really well," said Townsend.

"He's recovered quickly and Duhan has trained really well. There will be a freshness around both of them and a huge determination to do well.

"We want to see Duhan's strengths. We expect him to play his best rugby. We've got to make sure he gets opportunities to run. When he's done that for us in the past for us, he's done really well."

Neither Kinghorn, with 146 points from 60 caps, nor fellow British and Irish Lions cap Van der Merwe with 170 points in 50 appearances, featured in the first two Tests.

"It will have been tough for them to take, but they backed the team and understood the reasons why we had different selections in the first two games," explained Townsend

"Now they have an opportunity to represent their country again.

"It's a 23-man game. We're pleased with the starters we're putting out, but also the impact the guys on the bench can make."

Full-back Tom Jordan and hooker George Turner drop to the bench, while Jack Dempsey, Jamie Dobie and Jamie Ritchie miss out after being ruled out earlier this week.

The Scots opened with a loss in Italy before a convincing win over England.

Williamson came off the bench in both while Cherry and Fagerson also came on as replacements in the Calcutta Cup.

"I've enjoyed being in Spain this week with the players, it's been great, we came here after a win and it's been a good training week," said Townsend. "Vitamin D helps with the soul.

"We want to show our fitness and conditioning in what will be a tough atmosphere and a tough game.

"You're only as good as your next game and that's what we look forward to. Our players are keen to go again."

Townsend expects Wales, whose head coach Steve Tandy previously worked with Scotland as defence coach, to be "highly motivated" after defeats by England and France.

"They will have taken learnings from those defeats," said Townsend. "They played very tough teams. They will be highly motivated and play with a lot of passion.

"The atmosphere is always one of the noisiest in the championship and I'm sure they will be playing their best rugby again. That's the challenge we are preparing for.

"The plan is to play our game. We've got to adjust our game to what's working. We can be physical, move the ball to width and also use our kicking game effectively. We also have to work out what the opposition are doing - we have to deal with their threats.

"Coaches don't go up against each other. It's the players. It will be great to see [Steve Tandy] after the game. We've been sharing messages - not many this week - but in the first couple of games.

"We think very fondly of Steve, he spent a long time with us and has been a big influence on our players. I'm sure after the game we can have a few beers."

Scotland: Blair Kinghorn, Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (capt), Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell, Ben White; Nathan McBeth, Dave Cherry, Zander Fagerson, Max Williamson, Scott Cummings, Gregor Brown, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson.

Replacements: George Turner, Pierre Schoeman, Elliot Millar Mills, Grant Gilchrist, Josh Bayliss, George Horne, Tom Jordan, Darcy Graham.