Ali Price will make his first Scotland start in over a year against Fiji on Saturday, with head coach Gregor Townsend saying he is “in the best form” of the available scrum-half options.
Despite Edinburgh’s poor start to the season, the 31-year-old has been given the nod ahead of Glasgow pair George Horne and Jamie Dobie, who will be among the replacements at Murrayfield
Toulon’s Ben White is not available as the first of four November Tests falls outside the international window.
Capped 66 times, Price was first choice for Scotland until the end of 2022, but made just one appearance as a substitute during this year’s Six Nations.
“We feel this year Ali’s played really well when Edinburgh have gone well, the last two games in particular,” said Townsend.
“George and Jamie are competing really hard with Ben, who will be available for us next week, so we see the four of them as all having their different attributes.
“We’ve gone for Ali because we believe he’s in the best form right now. He looked really refreshed after having a summer off.
“Ali’s a [British & Irish] Lion, he’s a quality player. George and Jamie are quality players too, so we have really good depth at nine and Ali’s got an opportunity this week.”
Fit again after a spate of injuries, Edinburgh winger Darcy Graham will make his first appearance since the World Cup in October 2023.
Adam Hastings is given the nod at fly-half, with Tom Jordan in line for a debut from the bench.
The New Zealand-born 25-year-old has recently completed the five-year qualifying period and has enjoyed a strong start to the season at Glasgow Warriors.
“He brings an energy, an aggression to the game that’s going to be slightly different to what you normally see at Test level at 10,” said Townsend of Jordan.
“He’s really worked hard on his basic skills, his fundamentals of kicking, kick-offs, passing. He’s going to add something to our back line when he comes on.”