Murray has made six changes to his starting 15, with an even split between forwards and full backs.
The front row sees Robbie Deans make his first appearance this season, replacing Craig Davidson, who moves to the replacement bench. He is joined by Callum Norrie, who will again start tightfisted. Corey Tait comes on as starting hooker after an impressive substitution off the bench against Zimbabwe. An unchanged second row brings Eddie Erskine (who scored twice against Zimbabwe) and Jake Parkinson back into the boiler room. The back three see only one change, with Jonny Morris replacing Sam Derrick, who moves to the bench, at number 8. Co-captain Liam McConnell and Jonny Smith continue in the flank positions.
The dynamic running back pairing of co-captain Ben Afshar and Andrew McLean remains.
Finn Douglas will once again start in the band, this time joined by Logan Jarvie who replaces Gerodie Gwynn who is out due to injury. After a solid performance against Zimbabwe, Findlay Thomson gets his first start at center alongside Ben Salmon. Dan King will put on the fullback jersey again.
The replacement bench consists of a five-to-three split, with Finn Duraj, Craig Davidson, Oliver Minnis, Ruaraidh Hart and Sam Derrick covering the forward pack and Hector Patterson, Kerr Yule and Matt Reid taking their place to support the defences.
Head Coach Kenny Murray said: “We are very happy to get our first win of the tournament and get off to a good start.
“The players showed good performances against Zimbabwe, especially in the first half. We obviously had a period where we took our foot off the gas in the second half, so there was a lot of learning to be learned from that 15-minute window.
“The USA is a strong and physical team and with this rapid change between games, we have to make sure we capitalize on every opportunity.”
All matches will be available to view here.
The Scotland U20 team will take on the USA U20 at the Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday 20 July (12:00pm BST kick off, 2:00pm local time)
15. Dan King (Heriot Rugby)
14. Logan Jarvie (Stirling Wolves/Glasgow Warriors)
13. Ben Salmon (Stirling Wolves/Glasgow Warriors)
12. Findlay Thomson (Watsonians)
11. Finn Douglas (Southern Knights/Edinburgh Rugby)
10. Andrew McLean (Boroughmuir Bears)
9. Ben Afshar (Ayrshire Bulls) CO-CAPTAIN
1. Robbie Deans (Watsonians/Edinburgh Rugby)
2. Corey Tait (Boroughmuir Bears)
3. Callum Norrie (Stirling Wolves/Glasgow Warriors)
4. Eddie Erskine (Bath Rugby/University of Bath)
5. Jake Parkinson (Ealing Trackers)
6. Liam McConnell (Boroughmuir Bears/Edinburgh Rugby) CO-CAPTAIN
7. Jonny Smith (Harlequins)
8. Jonny Morris (Watsonians/Glasgow Warriors)
replacements
16. Finn Duraj (Watsonians)
17. Craig Davidson (Watsonians)
18. Oliver Minnis (University of Hartpury)
19. Ruaraidh Hart (Stirling Wolves/Glasgow Warriors)
20. Sam Derrick (Knights of the South)
21. Hector Patterson (Watsonians/Edinburgh Rugby)
22. Kerr Yule (Ayrshire Bulls/Glasgow Warriors)
23. Matt Reid (Watsonians)
