Scotland Six Nations 17-in-a-row run ends as Gregor Townsend performs major surgery on his front row

D’arcy Rae is Gregor Townsend’s preferred tighthead for the Murrayfield match as Scotland look to topple the champions and turbo-boost their own hopes of a first title since 1999.

Townsend made clear that Fagerson will still have a big part to play on Saturday but his run of 17 consecutive starts in the Six Nations is over.

Widely considered one the best tightheads in the world, Fagerson is the victim of his coach’s decision to perform major surgery on his pack. The scrum has been a cause for concern for Scotland at times during the tournament and Townsend has changed his entire front row.

A near-miraculous recovery

Of the trio who started in the comeback win over Wales in round three, only Fagerson is retained in the matchday 23 to face France. Nathan McBeth and Dave Cherry have both been jettisoned and are replaced at loosehead and hooker respectively by Pierre Schoeman and George Turner. The replacement front-rowers joining Fagerson on the bench are Rory Sutherland and Ewan Ashman, the former being selected for the first time in this championship while the latter returning after injuring his neck in the opening defeat by Italy in Rome.

There is one other significant personnel change in the pack, with Jack Dempsey completing what feels like a near-miraculous recovery from the arm injury he sustained in the win over England in round two which looked as if it would end his participation in the championship. Dempsey will start at No 8 against the French, with Zander’s younger brother Matt Fagerson moving from eight to six to accommodate him. Gregor Brown switches from back row to second row, taking the place of Max Williamson whom he replaced in the first half in Cardiff.

The one change in the backs sees Darcy Graham - who made a crucial try-scoring appearance off the bench against Wales - selected on the right wing. Duhan van der Merwe, who is carrying an ankle injury, drops out and Kyle Steyn shifts from right to left. There is also significant variation on the bench as Townsend opts for a six-two split of forwards and backs, opening the door for the inclusion of Freddy Douglas, Edinburgh’s turnover king.

But it is the selection of Rae ahead of the older Fagerson which is the most eye-catching change as the coach looks to derail a “brilliant” French team who have the maximum 15 points from their opening three games and could win the title at Murrayfield with a game to spare.

Rae, who has recovered from an ankle injury, impressed Townsend in the autumn fixtures against New Zealand and Argentina which Zander Fagerson missed due to a knee issue.

“On the back of what D’arcy did against New Zealand and Argentina in November, we felt this was a better combination of D’arcy starting and Zander on the bench,” said Townsend. “Zander is going to get big minutes, he is going to get good minutes off the bench. We will see how the game unfolds.

Finishers could play more minutes than starters

“We are delighted that D’arcy is now fit and had that game at the weekend [for Edinburgh against Scarlets]. He just needs to play like he did against New Zealand and Argentina. New Zealand in particular, [he] was excellent in the contact area. His effort was great and scrummed really well.”

Who is selected in the run-on XV and who is on the bench has become a more fluid concept in recent years and there is now no guarantee that the “starters” will play more minutes than the “finishers”. Townsend made a double substitution during the first half in Cardiff when it was clear things weren’t working against Wales, replacing McBeth and Williamson with Schoeman and Josh Bayliss and shifting Brown to lock.

“You'll have to speak to all the props, but I don't think they see starting on the bench as a big thing,” said Townsend before adding the caveat that Zander Fagerson didn’t seem “overjoyed” to be told he would be a sub against France. “I think they know they're going to get minutes, and what they've got to do is do well in their minutes.”

Elliot Millar Mills came on as replacement tighthead in Scotland’s first three Six Nations games this season but the Northampton prop has been ruled out of the France game with an adductor injury, making Rae’s return all the more timely.

Townsend admitted the availability of Dempsey was something of a surprise given the initial diagnosis on his bicep injury.

“It's unexpected, I have to say,” said the coach. “There was always a grey area around Jack. He didn't require surgery or he wanted a second opinion. This type of injury, you can come back from it. There's various tendons that go into the bicep and if the other ones function well then you can play.

“He pushed himself really hard with Glasgow last week, came into our camp on Wednesday and Thursday [last week]. We trained against the under-20s on Thursday. It wasn't meant to be a full contact session and he turned it into a full contact session. That gave us confidence and obviously gave him a lot of confidence. We trained fully yesterday [Wednesday].”

The inclusion of Douglas on the bench gives Scotland something different. The 20-year-old won his only cap as a teenager against Portugal in 2024 before he had played a game for Edinburgh and returns to the national side having excelled in some big European matches for his club.

“We feel that Freddy's game is jackals at a world-class level,” said Townsend. “He was the best in the world this year winning the ball back for his team. We have seen them doing that against top sides like Toulon, Bath and Glasgow. We believe that he is going to have such a big impact in all facets of the game but especially us getting the ball back.”

Scotland v France teams

Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn; 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (capt), 11 Kyle Steyn; 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 George Turner, 3 D’arcy Rae, 4 Gregor Brown, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey.

Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Josh Bayliss, 22, George Horne, 23 Tom Jordan.

France: 15 Thomas Ramos; 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey; 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (capt); 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Julien Marchand, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 4 Charles Ollivon, 5 Mickael Guillard, 6 Francois Cros, 7 Oscar Jegou, 8 Anthony Jelonch.

Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Thibaud Flament, 20 Emmanuel Meafou, 21 Lenni Nouchi; 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi.

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