Scotland head coach Frank Hadden has made sweeping changes to his team for Sunday’s Murrayfield clash with New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup – but denies he has picked a reserve team.
He retains just two of the players who started Tuesday’s 42-0 win over Romania.
Chris Paterson starts at stand-off after lining up on the wing in midweek, and Simon Webster slots in on the wing having been deployed at outside centre against Romania.
Prop Alasdair Dickinson and flanker John Barclay win their first caps as Hadden opts out of selecting his first-choice team against the World Cup favourites, apparently with one eye on the all-important Italy clash in Pool C on September 29.
Gloucester front-rower Dickinson was not in Scotland’s original 30-man squad but was called up to replace Allan Jacobsen when the Edinburgh man was forced out of the tournament through injury.
Scott Murray, Scotland’s most-capped player, captains the side and Chris Cusiter comes in for Mike Blair at scrum-half.
Andrew Henderson, scorer of a hat-trick of tries in the warm-up victory over Ireland last month, comes back into the side after recovering from a leg injury.
