South African winger Duhan van der Merwe will earn his 50th Test cap for Scotland against the USA at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Stafford McDowall will captain the team, having led Scotland against the New Zealand Maori in July and Portugal last November.

Coach Gregor Townsend has handed debuts to Edinburgh loose forward Liam McConnell and hooker Harri Morris, who is on the bench.

Van der Merwe, Scotland’s record try-scorer with 32, starts alongside Darcy Graham and Kyle Rowe in the back three.

McDowall partners Ollie Smith in midfield, with Jamie Dobie at scrumhalf and Adam Hastings at flyhalf in the absence of Finn Russell.

ALSO: Sheehan leads Ireland, Doris benched

In the pack, McConnell starts at blindside flank, with Dylan Richardson on the openside and Jack Dempsey at No 8.

Scott Cummings and Marshall Sykes combine in the second row, while the front row features Rory Sutherland, Patrick Harrison, and D’Arcy Rae, who earns his first Scotland start.

SCOTLAND – 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Stafford McDowall (c), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Dylan Richardson, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Marshall Sykes, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Patrick Harrison, 1 Rory Sutherland.
Bench: 16 Harri Morris, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Murphy Walker, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Max Williamson, 21 Magnus Bradbury, 22 George Horne, 23 Ross Thompson.

Weekend teams

Duhan doing what he does best in our last meeting with @USARugby 💪#AsOne pic.twitter.com/mBn9506jFt

— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) October 29, 2025

Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images