Six Nations: Why Scotland are pinning full-back hopes on Kyle Rowe - and how Jamie Ritchie has earned reprieve

Fast forward three years and it’s fair to say that his next outing in the 15 jersey in Wales will be a more high-octane affair. Rowe has been thrust into action in Scotland’s Guinness Six Nations opener in Cardiff on Saturday after knee injuries conspired to rob Gregor Townsend of his two first-choice full-backs.

Ollie Smith was ruled out for the season when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing for Glasgow in Bayonne before Christmas. But the news yesterday that Blair Kinghorn will miss the opening two rounds of the championship came out of the blue. Kinghorn strained his medial collateral ligament playing for Toulouse against Racing on Sunday night. The injury is far less serious than Smith’s and the optimistic prognosis is that he will be fit to return for the match against England at Murrayfield on February 24. In the meantime, Rowe will be redeployed at full-back after an excellent first half of the season playing for Glasgow Warriors on the wing.

Townsend expects him to adapt accordingly and pointed out that Rowe’s only previous cap was won when he came off the bench to cover full-back during Scotland’s win over Argentina in Salta in 2022. Sadly for the player, it was a short-lived affair. Rowe’s debut lasted 11 minutes before he did his ACL and the injury kept him out for a year. The way he dealt with the setback and then the financial collapse of his club, London Irish, speaks volumes for his character and he has excelled since moving to Glasgow in the summer.

“We’re really pleased with Kyle Rowe’s game. He played full back for us in his first cap and we see him as someone who is very comfortable in that position,” said Townsend. “It’s very important that we have players with confidence about how they are playing coming into such a big fixture.

“Kyle trained all last week at full-back. Harry Paterson also did half a session on Friday as well. I think everyone sees Kyle as a winger who can play full-back as well. He’s so good in the air and has a very good kicking game.”

The other main surprise in Townsend’s team to face Wales is the inclusion of Jamie Ritchie. Having been stood down as captain because there was uncertainty about his place in the side, the flanker not only starts but is one of two vice-captains, along with Sione Tuipulotu, who will assist skipper Finn Russell. Ritchie is selected ahead of Andy Christie, with the on-form Saracens flanker not even on the bench. The Edinburgh man is at openside, his clubmate Luke Crosbie is at blindside and Matt Fagerson is No 8.

The game comes too soon for Rory Darge, named as co-captain with Russell, but the Glasgow flanker remains on course to be available to face France in round two. Ritchie – captain for the previous 18 months and a fixture in the national side for years – now has the opportunity to convince Townsed he deserves to remain.

“Part of the reason that he is no longer captain is not so much his performances but the performances of others,” said the coach. “We’ve got so much competition in the back row and it wasn’t guaranteed he would be in the starting team. But we know well he’s played for Scotland in the past and we believe he’s getting back into that form now. He’s had a real positive reaction to the challenge and the news that someone else, or two people were going to take over the captaincy. He’s been great for both Rory and Finn in particular.”

Townsend said Christie was “unlucky to miss out on selection” and heaped praise on Crosbie, “the form back-rower over the season”.

As expected, Scott Cummings comes into the side in place of the suspended Grant Gilchrist and will partner Richie Gray in the second row.

The front row is on familiar lines, with Pierre Schoeman, George Turner and Zander Fagerson all selected. But there are two new faces on the bench where props Alec Hepburn and Elliot Millar-Mills could make their Scotland debuts. A cap for Hepburn would be particularly notable given he has already played six times for England. Hepburn, who was born in Australia and has a Scottish father, is able to switch allegiance due to the eligibility rule which allows a player to change after three years away from the international game.

Townsend believes Hepburn has the personality to handle the cross-border move. “He had to go through some time away from rugby because of illness [glandular fever] and that’s when he thought long and hard about if this opportunity did come along in the future, he would make the most of it,” said the coach.

“He was very surprised, and he said overwhelmed, when he got his call-up to the squad. So, then to be in the team is a really good news story for him and I think he’ll make the most of it.”

In the backs, Kyle Rowe replaces the injured Darcy Graham on the right wing, with Duhan van der Merwe on the other flank; Huw Jones and Tuipulotu retain the centre berths in the face of stiff competition from Cameron Redpath who is on the bench. Ben White gets the nod at scrum-half, with George Horne among the replacements, meaning there is no place for Ali Price.

Scotland haven’t won against Wales in Cardiff since 2002, a run of 11 defeats. But they did defeat the Welsh in Llanelli in 2020 when the match was moved to Parc y Scarlets during Covid, the same stadium where Rowe last started a game at full-back. A good omen, Scotland will hope.

Scotland team: 15. K Rowe; 14. K Steyn, 13 H Jones, 12. S Tuipulotu, 11. D van der Merwe; 10. F Russell, 9. B White; 1. P Schoeman, 2. G Turner, 3. Z Fagerson, 4. R Gray, 5. S Cummings, 6. L Crosbie 7. J Ritchie, 8. M Fagerson. Replacements: 16. E Ashman, 17. A Hepburn, 18. E Millar-Mills, 19. S Skinner, 20. J Dempsey, 21. G Horne, 22. B Healy, 23. C Redpath.