Townsend loses out in race for number 10

SCOTLAND have opted to play Gregor Townsend at inside centre for the opening round of the Five Nations championship against Wales at Murrayfield on Saturday. The key role of out-half goes to Craig Chalmers, who will win his 50th cap. Townsend also loses out to Rob Wainwright on the captaincy.

Wainwright, who will play at number eight in a reshuffled back row, returns to the Scotland side after being forced to miss the autumn internationals because of injury.

Of the selection of Townsend at inside centre, the position he occupied against Italy last month, team manager Arthur Hastie said: "We felt we picked the midfield combination that was best suited to take on Wales on Saturday."

Gary Armstrong is back at scrum-half and must keep a tight rein on the talented Rob Howley and ask questions of the Welsh fringe defence.

The second row of Andy Reed and Doddie Weir remains as the pair which finished against Italy, with Shade Munro on the bench.

The big change in the pack is in the back row, where Murray Wallace is the only member of the breakaway unit to have played in the last two internationals, but he will have a change of position, moving from blind-side to open-side.

Peter Walton comes in at blind-side, where his presence will be used to set up the kind of forward drives that were missing both against Italy and Australia.

Wainwright, who last appeared in a Scotland jersey in the second Test against New Zealand last summer, played at number eight in both the 1992 Tests against Australia, but has been predominantly fielded as a blind-side flanker.