Scotland vs New Zealand: Duhan van der Merwe left out by hosts as Kyle Steyn selected by Gregor Townsend

Duhan van der Merwe, Jamie Ritchie and Zander Fagerson are all notable absentees from Scotland's 23-man squad for Saturday's Murrayfield showdown with New Zealand.

All three have been regular starters for Gregor Townsend in recent seasons.

While prop Fagerson was in a well-documented battle to be to be fit after being sidelined by injury since early April, joint-record scorer Van der Merwe and former Scotland captain Ritchie are not injured and have simply been overlooked for selection.

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Glasgow wing Kyle Steyn starts instead of British and Irish Lions winger Van der Merwe, who notched a double against the United States last weekend.

"It's really rewarding Kyle's form this season, and probably since he came back from injury after the Six Nations," said Townsend.

"He was very good in the summer tour, but really it's about this season. Not all of our players have been able to play a number of games leading into this tournament, but Kyle's been consistently strong in all aspects of his game so he's earned this opportunity."

Van der Merwe, who impressed during the 85-0 rout of the United States, is not in the 23, with versatile back duo Tom Jordan and Jamie Dobie preferred on the bench.

"He was actually okay," Townsend said when asked how Van der Merwe took news of his omission. "It's the first time Duhan has been dropped from the Scotland team, the first time I've had to drop him. I get on really well with Duhan.

"It was a brilliant occasion last week for him with his 50th cap, you could see how emotional he was with that. He's really connected with the staff and the players.

"Of course he'd be disappointed but he's trained well this week and that's all you ask for players, to park the disappointment and get behind the team that's selected at the weekend."

Edinburgh prop D'Arcy Rae will start at tighthead in Fagerson's absence and versatile Glasgow forward Gregor Brown, whose most recent starts for Scotland have come in the second row, will line up at blindside flanker in place of back-rower Ritchie.

Ritchie, who enjoyed a strong Six Nations, was also left out of the 23 having endured a tough start to the season with Perpignan.

"Jamie was very good last year, then got injured in that Fiji game [in the summer]," said Townsend.

"It's been difficult for him in Perpignan. They've lost every game, but he's actually done a lot of good things for Perpignan. We just felt he misses out this week because other guys are playing better."

Rory Hutchinson of Northampton will make a rare start at centre, with Huw Jones ruled out until the new year.

Forwards Elliot Millar Mills and Rory Darge have been passed fit after their recent injury issues to be included among the replacements as Scotland bid to pull off their first win over New Zealand.

Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 D'Arcy Rae, 4 Scott Cummings, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Gregor Brown, 7 Matt Fagerson, 8 Jack Dempsey.

Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Rory Darge, 21 Josh Bayliss, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Tom Jordan.

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Scotland vs New Zealand: Duhan van der Merwe left out by hosts as Kyle Steyn selected by Gregor Townsend