This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Scotland head coach, Gregor Townsend, says Chris Harris has earned his place in the starting lineup of their Six Nations opener in Cardiff.

Harris will make his first start for Scotland against Wales after Townsend named the Newcastle player at outside centre, where he will partner Huw Jones. The former captain Greig Laidlaw has been named on the bench, with Ali Price preferred at scrum-half after an impressive showing in the autumn internationals, while Jon Walsh and Gordon Reid are recalled following a number of front-row injuries.

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Stuart Hogg returns at full-back after missing the November win over Australia due to a hip injury suffered in the warm-up.

Harris made his only appearance for Scotland to date off the bench against Samoa, and Townsend is confident he can play a big role in defence at Cardiff in the absence of Alex Dunbar, who has concussion.

“We’ve been really impressed with him overall,” he said. “He’s been very consistent. Defensively he’s stood out – and a massive part of winning games is having a strong defence, and he’s shown that.

“We’ve been really impressed with him in the last two or three weeks before coming to camp, and with the unavailability of Alex Dunbar and Duncan Taylor, he gets an opportunity to start for us at 13.”

Confidence is high in the Scottish camp before what many see as their best chance to compete in a Six Nations for a long time following an impressive start under Townsend. Since taking over last summer, the former Glasgow coach has led them to two wins over Australia as well as taking New Zealand to the wire.

Their preparations for this year’s tournament have been hampered by a number of injuries to the front row, with Darryl Marfo, Zander Fagerson, WP Nel and Al Dickinson all missing.

Townsend is nonetheless confident Scotland still have the players to compete in Cardiff.

He said: “We had injuries in November, and players that were uncapped really stood out well and grabbed their opportunities.”