Scotland v Japan: Scotland coach Ian McGeechan opted against naming a full-strength side for their opening World Cup match against Japan tomorrow.
Hooker Gordon Bulloch, who captained the Scots for the first time in their 29-10 defeat by Ireland last month, was named on the bench along with experienced outhalf Gregor Townsend.
Saracens hooker Rob Russell will start the match ahead of Bulloch, his country's most capped hooker, in an otherwise settled front row.
Townsend, who has made a record 78 appearances for Scotland, underwent knee surgery last month. Russell is one of two Australian-born players in the Scotland line-up, with Ben Hinshelwood selected to make his first World Cup appearance against Japan.
Hinshelwood, son of former Scottish international Sandy Hinshelwood, was chosen ahead of New Zealand-born Glenn Metcalfe. The 26-year-old Hinshelwood has played only three club matches and one Test since breaking his leg in January.
"I really thought about getting right for this and thankfully it's all worked out okay," he said. "I spoke to a couple of guys who had the same injury as me and they were back to 100 per cent and there was no long-term problem with them."
McGeechan handed winger Chris Paterson the kicking duties after he landed 15 goals from 18 attempts during this year's Six Nations. McGeechan also swapped number eight Jon Petrie to openside flanker to replace the injured Andrew Mower, while lock Scott Murray returns to the starting side after injuring his knee against Wales in another World Cup warm-up loss.
The Scots, ranked ninth in the world to Japan's 18, are expected to win but the expected high temperatures in Townsville in tropical Queensland state could come into play.
However, McGeechan had has his charges had well prepared as they trained by training in a tropical garden at home.
"They are a very fit side," McGeechan said of Japan: "They work very quickly at high pace and are very good when they break the line. In these conditions it's very easy to start chasing the game, chasing possession, which makes life very difficult."
Scrumhalf Takashi Tsuji will make his Test debut after being named in the starting line-up by Japan coach Shogo Mukai. The NEC player is the only uncapped member of the squad but he will have the assurance of 37-cap veteran Keiji Hirose outside him at outhalf against Scotland.
SCOTLAND: B Hinshelwood; C Paterson, A Craig, J McLaren, K Logan; G Ross, B Redpath (capt); T Smith, R Russell, B Douglas, S Murray, S Grimes, J White, J Petrie, S Taylor. Replacements: G Bulloch, G Kerr, R Beattie, M Leslie, M Blair, G Townsend, S Danielli.
JAPAN: T Matsuda; D Ohata, R Parkinson, Y Motoki, H Onozawa; K Hirose, T Tsuji; S Hasegawa, M Amino, M Toyoyama, H Kiso, A Parker, N Okubo, T Miuchi (capt), T Ito. Replacements: M Yamamoto, M Sakata, H Tanuma, Y Watanabe, Y Sonoda, A Miller, T Kurihara.
