ANYONE who saw Georgia beat Samoa last week cannot have failed to be impressed by the strength and power they showed up front. Vern Cotter certainly was, and his selection for tomorrow’s match at Rugby Park shows just how seriously he is taking their threat.

Scotland’s head coach has made five changes to his starting line-up for this third and final Autumn Test, opting for the sort of solidity and experience he expects will be needed to see off the challenge of opponents who won 20-16 last Saturday thanks largely to a pushover try and a penalty try that was awarded when their forwards had trundled forward to within a couple of metres of the line. There are four alterations in the pack from the group that began last week’s win over Argentina: Ross Ford returns at hooker, Richie Gray is back at second row after injury, and Glasgow Warriors duo Rob Harley and Ryan Wilson are in the back row. The only change among the backs sees Mark Bennett replace Huw Jones, who injured a foot last week and will be out of action until the New Year.

“I think he’s four weeks anyway before starting rehab, six weeks before he’s back training,” Cotter said of the South-Africa-based centre. “So it’s two months before he’s back playing, depending on how it goes. He’s in a boot now so we’ll see if he’s available for the Six Nations.”

On the bench, Ali Price continues as back-up scrum-half in the absence of Warriors team-mate Henry Pyrgos, who has what Cotter called “a slight bone bruise” and should be back in a couple of weeks. Rory Hughes returns as a substitute in place of Tim Visser, while John Barclay and Grant Gilchrist are also among the subs after starting last week. Magnus Bradbury and Tim Swinson, as well as Jones and Visser, drop out of the squad altogether.

The artificial surface in Kilmarnock is conducive to the kind of high-tempo game that Scotland are now playing, and players such as Bennett and Stuart Hogg certainly have the ability to benefit from it. But Cotter warned that, in addition to playing to the strengths of those backs, his players must also expect to confront the Georgians up front before they can give rein to their attacking instincts.

“There will be times to move the ball, but not until we gain ascendancy,” he said. “I think if we avoid what’s going to be in front of us, don’t get parity, I think we’ll be in trouble.

“It’s probably going to take some time before we can work the ball into favourable positions. We don’t want to have a drift defence take us into touch. It’ll be fast, but they do defend well, they have good line speed, and if they get you on a one-v-one they’ll get you to the ground quickly and they’re strong over the ball, compete quickly.

“We’ve got to get into a position where they’re pressured into giving us ball they don’t want to give us. We’ll be respecting the fundamentals, which are about getting parity up front.

“We know they’re strong [in the scrum]. The artificial pitch will change it a little. We just need to make sure we keep our ball and compete on theirs.

“We don’t want too many scrums in our half, but the mindset is to go out there and compete at every level, and then we’ll see what happens. We have a plan we’ve put in place and we’ll see how it goes.”

Bennett, for one, knows he cannot expect to see the ball every time his team are in possession. Although clearly eager to make an impact on his return to the team, the Glasgow Warriors centre accepts that he may have to wait patiently for some time.

“There are times when you try and overplay [on an artificial pitch], because the footing is so good and the ball is nice and dry,” he said. “You do get a bit carried away and try to play too quickly.

“It’s about controlling tempo. We know the shape and structure that we want to get into. If we can get that shape and structure and play at that pace it will be even better.

“We can’t go in thinking that it’s going to be an easy game. Georgia are a good side. They have a good backline, they really do.”

Scotland (v Georgia at Rugby Park, tomorrow, 2.30pm): S Hogg (Glasgow); S Maitland (Saracens), M Bennett, A Dunbar, T Seymour; F Russell (all Glasgow), G Laidlaw (Gloucester); A Dall, R Ford (both Edinburgh), Z Fagerson (Glasgow), R Gray (Toulouse), J Gray, R Harley (both Glasgow), H Watson (Edinburgh), R Wilson (Glasgow). Substitutes: F Brown, A Allan (both Glasgow), M Low (Exeter), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh), J Barclay (Scarlets), A Price, P Horne, R Hughes (all Glasgow).