Six Scots to start for Lions against First Nations & Pasifika XV in Melbourne

Six Scotland players will start for the British and Irish Lions in their game against the First Nations & Pasifika XV.

Andy Farrell has named his team for the match being played in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe, Ben White, Pierre Schoeman, and Scott Cummings are all in the starting side while Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, and Gregor Brown are named among the replacements.

Kinghorn, lining up at full-back, has the chance to prove his fitness for the Melbourne Cricket Ground showdown after missing the series opener in Brisbane with a knee injury.

Owen Farrell, making his maiden start of the tour 17 days after being called to replace Elliot Daly, will lead the side at the Marvel Stadium.

The former England captain forges a midfield partnership with fellow late arrival Jamie Osborne.

It will be the first time in four tours that he has skippered the Lions, and his selection presents the opportunity to play his way into contention for Saturday’s second Test against the Wallabies.

Alex Mitchell is set to continue his remarkable run of having played in every match on tour after being picked on the bench, where he is joined by Ben Earl and Marcus Smith, who are also backing up, having been involved in Saturday’s 27-19 win against Australia.

Garry Ringrose has recovered from the concussion that forced him to miss out at Suncorp Stadium to secure a replacement’s role for the final midweek game of the tour.

The Ireland star was favourite to start the Test series at outside centre until he suffered his head injury, resulting in Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu being paired together in their tried and tested all-Scotland combination.

There are three specialist opensides in the back row in Jac Morgan, Josh van der Flier and Henry Pollock, each of whom has an outside chance of winning a place on the bench for the second Test.

Apart from Farrell and Osborne, there are seven further late additions to the squad involved in Graham, White, Jamie George, Ashman, Sutherland, Tom Clarkson, and Gregor Brown.

“This fixture gives players another opportunity to put their hand up for selection for the final two Tests,” Lions head coach Andy Farrell said.

“The coaches’ minds are open when it comes to selection, they have to be with so many players performing and pushing for places and we want that to continue for the remaining two Tests.

“This group know the level of performance that we will require against a First Nations Pasifika team that is packed with talent and power.”

Lions team in full

B Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland); D Graham (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland), J Osborne (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), O Farrell (Saracens/England, capt), D van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland); F Smith (Northampton Saints/England), B White (Toulon/Scotland); P Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland), J George (Saracens/England), F Bealham (Connacht Rugby/Ireland), J Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), S Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), J Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), J van der Flier (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), H Pollock (Northampton Saints/England).

Replacements: E Ashman (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland), R Sutherland (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), T Clarkson (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), G Brown (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), B Earl (Saracens/England), A Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), M Smith (Harlequins/England), G Ringrose (Leinster Rugby/Ireland).