Scotland coach backs Chris Harris to shine on full debut

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend hailed Chris Harris' defensive attributes and impressive showing during training after naming the Newcastle centre in his team to face Wales in Cardiff to open the Six Nations on Saturday.

Of the six changes made from the side which ran in eight tries to hammer Australia 53-24 in November, the inclusion of the 27-year-old was the surprise selection as he was selected to start at outside centre, with prolific scorer Huw Jones shunted inside to No.12.

Born in Carlisle but with a Scottish grandmother, Harris had a cameo off the bench at wing in the first autumn Test against Samoa but didn’t feature in the subsequent squads against New Zealand and Australia. With Glasgow’s Alex Dunbar and Saracens’ Duncan Taylor both unavailable as they continue concussion return to play protocols, Townsend has opted for Harris, with Peter Horne on the bench.

“It’s a big ask but Chris has shown it this year,” said Townsend. “I’ve been really impressed with him, no matter who he has come up against. We watched him live down at Newcastle against Exeter, the English champions [earlier this month]. He played really well that day.

Chris Harris in training following his call-up to the starting XV which plays Wales in Cardiff

“We’ve watched his games on video before that. He’s just found a groove in his defence this year. He’s enjoyed tackling, he’s read plays really well.

“He has been very confident and relaxed in this environment, both in November and now. There are parts of his game, away from the defending, where he has really impressed us this week.

“We believe he’ll be in a good place to grab his opportunity.”

For all the talk of Scotland’s burgeoning attacking flair heading into this highly-anticipated championship, the selection of the 6ft 2in, 16 stone centre suggests that Townsend feels a strong, defensive midfield will be required in the bid to end a 16-year drought in Cardiff against injury-hit Wales.

Chris Harris in training following his call-up to the starting XV which plays Wales in Cardiff

Ali Price continues at scrum-half with Greig Laidlaw, who has recently returned from a broken ankle, backing up on the bench.

Scotland have had a catalogue of front-row injuries this year but Townsend is in the fortunate position of bringing back props with Test experience and playing regular English Premiership rugby in the shape of loosehead Gordon Reid of London Irish and tighthead Jon Welsh of Newcastle to pack down alongside in-form hooker Stuart McInally.

Glasgow loosehead Jamie Bhatti is joined on the bench by uncapped 21-year-old Edinburgh tighthead Murray McCallum and Newcastle hooker Scott Lawson, whose last Scotland cap came in 2014.

Ben Toolis gets the nod to partner Jonny Gray at lock, while Glasgow captain Ryan Wilson, who hasn’t played since mid-December, is reintroduced on the bench with Cornell du Preez starting at No. 8.

Sale’s Byron McGuigan, who scored two tries and was man of the match in the rout of the Wallabies, keeps his place on the wing. He was a late starter in that November game when star full-back Stuart Hogg, who returns to the No.15 jersey, pulled out in the warm up.

Townsend revealed he would have no problem in having the Principality Stadium roof closed, but only in the event of wet weather on Saturday 
afternoon.

Wales coach Warren Gatland prefers it to be closed but both teams must agree and Townsend said: “I asked him what he wanted and then said I’d get back to him, so we’re still to make that decision.

“I’ll be honest with you we would like dry conditions, so if it’s dry conditions outside there’s no need to close the roof, if it’s not then let’s close the roof and let’s have a really good 
game.

“We’ve been watching the weather forecasts very closely and we’ll have to make a decision in the next two days to inform them.

“Tonight would be best. We could leave it until Friday, but we’d want to make that decision to help them out tonight. By then we should know whether it’s going to be dry or not.”

Scotland: Stuart Hogg (Glasgow); Tommy Seymour (Glasgow), Chris Harris (Newcastle), Huw Jones (Glasgow), Byron McGuigan (Sale); Finn Russell (Glasgow), Ali Price (Glasgow); Gordon Reid (London Irish), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), Jon Welsh (Newcastle), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow), John Barclay (c) (Scarlets), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh), Cornell du Preez (Edinburgh). Subs: Scott Lawson (Newcastle), Jamie Bhatti, Murray McCallum (Edinburgh), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow), Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne), Pete Horne (Glasgow) , Sean Maitland (Saracens).