“Infectious competitiveness” and strong leadership skills make Finn Russell an ideal choice to captain Scotland, said head coach Gregor Townsend.

“He has always been a leader for us in terms of attack,” explained Townsend. “He has obviously got older, got more experience, and it’s the right time to give him that opportunity.”

Russell’s promotion to captain comes less than 10 months after Townsend left the 30-year-old out of his initial squad for the 2022 autumn series.

The Bath summer signing shone against New Zealand and Argentina when brought back into the fold last November and carried that good form into the Six Nations, with Scotland finishing third.

“He’s hitting that sweet spot after playing for 10-12 years in one position and against some of the best teams around,” added Townsend. “You get an understanding of where space might open up, what you can bring as a player.

“If you’ve got the physical side right too, then you can exploit those opportunities.

“He’s really motivated about playing for Scotland and for playing club rugby for the next few years. If you can get that mix and he continues to improve, we have one of the best players in that position in the world with us.

“Finn is a very good connecter. He likes spending time with other people in the team and that’s a really good way of leading. His knowledge of the game is very good and his competitiveness is infectious.

“He wants to win. He might be doing it with a smile, other times he’s winding up the opposition or getting back for a tackle. We want our leaders prepared to put their bodies on the line, to work hard to help the team win.”

Winger Darcy Graham and Matt Fagerson are the only players retained from the starting XV in last weekend’s win over Italy.

Fagerson switches to blindside flanker, with Jack Dempsey coming in at number eight.

For the second of four tournament warm-up matches, most of the frontline stars who performed well in the Six Nations are back, with fly-half Russell linking up with scrum-half Ben White and the centre partnership of Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu restored.

Ewan Ashman is the least-established player chosen to face the World Cup hosts as Townsend assesses his options at hooker.

Blair Kinghorn takes over from Ollie Smith at full-back as those two compete to succeed the retired Stuart Hogg.

Smith is among the replacements, along with Rory Darge, who led the team in the 25-13 victory over Italy.

Townsend described Ritchie’s calf strain as a “tweak”, saying his regular captain could be fit in time for a return match with France in Saint-Etienne on 12 August.

Scotland open their World Cup campaign against reigning champions South Africa in five weeks’ time.

Scotland: Kinghorn, Graham, Jones, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe, Russell (captain), White; Schoeman, Ashman, Z Fagerson, Gray, Gilchrist, M Fagerson, Watson, Dempsey.

Replacements: Cherry, Bhatti, Nel, Cummings, Darge, Horne, Redpath, Smith.