Samoa v Scotland, Durban, June 8
Scotland name three debutants for Samoa clash
ESPN Staff
June 4, 2013

Interim head coach Scott Johnson has named three new caps for Scotland's opening tour match against Samoa in Durban on Saturday. Edinburgh's Greig Tonks and Glasgow pair Alex Dunbar and Pat MacArthur will all make their debuts while Tom Heathcote and Grant Gilchrist will win second caps.

Johnson said the quadrangular tournament in South Africa, which also features the hosts and Italy, was a good chance to test out new players.

"We want to broaden the base and it gives us the perfect opportunity to see how these guys stand up," he said. "We have 25 Test matches available to us prior to the World Cup. I've said regularly that we're not going to give Test jerseys away, but we cannot be exposed to injury issues come the World Cup and the best way to prevent that is to give players opportunities."

Scotland: Greig Tonks (Edinburgh), Sean Lamont (Glasgow), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow), Matt Scott (Edinburgh), Tim Visser (Edinburgh), Tom Heathcote (Bath), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Ryan Grant (Glasgow), Pat MacArthur (Glasgow), Euan Murray (Worcester), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow), Alasdair Strokosch (Perpignan), Kelly Brown (Saracens, capt), Johnnie Beattie (Montpellier)

Replacements: Stevie Lawrie (Edinburgh), Alasdair Dickinson (Sale), Geoff Cross (Edinburgh), Jim Hamilton (Gloucester), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow), Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow), Peter Horne (Glasgow), Duncan Taylor (Saracens)

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