Darcy Graham is back in Scotland’s starting XV for Saturday’s Six Nations showdown with Wales at Murrayfield.
The Edinburgh wing missed the 16-15 defeat against England last time out after suffering a concussion in the home defeat to Ireland almost four weeks ago.
Graham passed his HIA before the match at Allianz Stadium on February 22nd but Scotland coaches and medics opted to take a precautionary approach given the severity of his collision with team-mate Finn Russell.
Having trained this week, the 27-year-old has been selected to start against Wales in place of Kyle Rowe in the only change to the side that started the Calcutta Cup match.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend reverts to a 5-3 bench after going with a 6-2 split against England, with forward Sam Skinner and back Jamie Dobie dropping out of the 23, and scrumhalf George Horne joining Rowe on the bench.
Scotland, aiming to recover from back-to-back championship defeats against Ireland and England, are aiming to make it three wins in a row over Wales for the first time in the Six Nations era.
Meanwhile, Wales’ interim head coach Matt Sherratt has named an unchanged team for Saturday’s game, hoping to see an end to their 1-Test losing streak.
Sherratt has predictably retained the starting line-up that gave Ireland a scare last time out.
Two switches among the replacements see returns for former captain Dewi Lake, who was recently recalled to the squad after recovering from biceps surgery, and Cardiff prop Keiron Assiratti.
Lake takes over from Evan Lloyd and will provide hooking cover for Elliot Dee, with Assiratti chosen instead of Henry Thomas.
Sherratt’s selection means another opportunity for Scarlets wing Ellis Mee, who impressed on his Test debut against Ireland, with outhalf Gareth Anscombe having recovered from a head knock suffered during that game.
Openside flankers Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell will again operate in tandem, while number eight Taulupe Faletau wins his 107th cap.
Reffell and lock Dafydd Jenkins are the only starting survivors from their dramatic 27-26 defeat against Scotland in Cardiff last year.
SCOTLAND: B Kinghorn; D Graham, H Jones, T Jordan, D Van der Merwe; F Russell, B White; P Schoeman, D Cherry, Z Fagerson; J Gray, G Gilchrist; J Ritchie, R Darge, J Dempsey.
Replacements: E Ashman, R Sutherland, W Hurd, G Brown, M Fagerson, G Horne, K Rowe, S McDowall.
WALES: B Murray; T Rogers, M Llewellyn, B Thomas, E Mee; G Anscombe, Tomos Williams; N Smith, E Dee, W John; W Rowlands, D Jenkins; J Morgan, T Reffell, T Faletau.
Replacements: D Lake, G Thomas, K Assiratti, Teddy Williams, A Wainwright, R Williams, J Evans, J Roberts.
