LONDON, 18 Oct – Ross Ford and Jonny Gray have returned to Scotland’s starting team for their quarter-final match against Australia at Twickenham on Sunday after having their three-match bans rescinded.
Ford starts at hooker, which means Fraser Brown will now begin on the bench in place of Kevin Bryce. Gray replaces Tim Swinson, who joins Brown on the bench, with Alasdair Strokosch dropping out of the squad.
Ford and Gray (pictured above against Japan) were cited for a dangerous tackle in their pool win over Samoa and handed three-week bans earlier in the week following a hearing at the official law firm for Rugby World Cup 2015, Clifford Chance.
Appeal upheld
Their appeal on Saturday was heard by an Appeal Committee, chaired by the Honourable Justice Lex Mpati (South Africa), sitting with Justice Graeme Mew (Canada) and Robbie Deans (New Zealand), who upheld their appeal.
The revised Scotland team for the match, which kicks off at 16:00 is:
1. Alasdair Dickinson
2. Ross Ford
3. WP Nel
4. Jonny Gray
5. Richie Gray
6. Blair Cowan
7. John Hardie
8. Dave Denton
9. Greig Laidlaw (captain)
10. Finn Russell
11. Tommy Seymour
12. Pete Horne
13. Mark Bennett
14. Sean Maitland
15. Stuart Hogg
Replacements:
16. Fraser Brown
17. Gordon Reid
18. Jon Welsh
19. Tim Swinson
20. Josh Strauss
21. Henry Pyrgos
22. Richie Vernon
23. Sean Lamont
RNS sw