Stuart Hogg has been passed fit to start for Scotland, who are preparing for their opening Rugby World Cup game on Wednesday in Gloucester against shock winners against South Africa, Japan.
The full-back, 23, was deemed fit enough to play after recovering in time from an ankle problem that was sustained in last month’s home warm-up game against Italy.
Head coach Vern Cotter will not be taking any risks against the Asian side that managed to shock the world with their 34-32 win over two-time World Cup winners South Africa, becoming only the fourth side along with the All Blacks, Australia and England to defeat the Springboks at the tournament.
Scrum-half Greig Laidlaw will captain the side whilst Grant Gilchrist partners Jonny Gray at second-row and winger Sean Lamont is set to win his 98th cap.
Flanker Josh Strauss is among the replacements, having recently become eligible under residency rules.
As reported by the BBC, Cotter is preparing for a tough game despite Scotland having won all four previous encounters with Japan: “We’ve prepared well for what will be a very tough Test against a powerful and fit Japanese team, who like to play a high-tempo game.
“They [Japan] will have taken a lot of confidence from their opening win over South Africa. However, that doesn’t change our approach to this game or the pool.
“The priority for us to ensure that we get our jobs right with accuracy and impose ourselves on the game.”
Japan themselves have made six changes to the side that won on Saturday with the side only having three days to recover before playing again.
Scotland: Hogg; Seymour, Bennett, Scott, Lamont; Russell, Laidlaw; Dickinson, Ford, Nel, Gilchrist, J. Gray, Wilson, Hardie, Denton.
Replacements: Brown, Grant, Welsh, R. Gray, Strauss, Pyrgos, Horne, Maitland.
Japan: Goromaru; Matsushima, Sa’u, Tamura, Fukuoka; Tatekawa, Tanaka; Inagaki, Horie, Yamashita, Thompson, Ives, Leitch, Broadhurst, Mafi.
Replacements: Kizu, Mikami, Hatakeyama, Makabe, Ito, Tui, Hiwasa, Hesketh
