Winners and losers from the Scotland squad as Finn Russell rested and the search for new props begins
Our winners and losers from Gregor Townsend's squad.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has named his 37-man squad ahead of their America’s Tour with matches against Canada, USA, Chile and Uruguay.
Several youngsters have been included in the squad with a total of ten uncapped players getting the opportunity to potentially make their debuts on tour.
Following Townsend’s selections, we pick out our winners and losers from the squad.
Winners
Rested stars
In the modern rugby calendar, finding a window where frontline players can get sufficient rest is becoming increasingly difficult and while Scotland will not face any tier one opposition this Summer Tour, they have the opportunity to rest key players.
Finn Russell, Jack Dempsy, Grant Gilchrist, Blair Kinghorn, Zander Fagerson and Ben White are all crucial players for Townsend and their club sides and being able to get some much needed time off could work wonders going forward.
Russell and White went straight into the thick of club rugby action following Scotland’s World Cup exit and the only breaks the pair have had since have been injury-enforced.
They are not alone in that scenario, and this additional time off will allow them to reset well before next season and return ready for the November internationals.
Scotland squad: Finn Russell omitted as Gregor Townsend backs youth for July internationals
The next in lines
While the above mentioned stars are way, the fringe players have a massive opportunity to make stake their claims for more minutes in the Scotland jersey.
Adam Hastings has been in and out of the Scotland squad in recent seasons and with Russell now rested, he, Ben Healy and Ross Thompson have the chance to show what they are capable of and push for that back-up fly-half role and even press Russell for the starting role.
It’s not just at fly-half with the opportunities open up with uncapped props Will Hurd and Nathan McBeth able to stake their claims along with the single-digit cap front rowers in Javan Sebastian, Elliot Millar-Mills and Murphy Walker.
The front row is certainly a place where Scotland needs some youth to force the selector’s hands, with WP Nel now retired and Pierre Schoeman bossing the number one jersey in recent seasons. With Jamie Bhatti also rested, Townsend is giving so many inexperienced players the chance to lock down a place in the squad.
10 Uncapped players, three development
Townsend will be taking 40 players with him on tour to South America, with three development players taking the trip in Exeter’s Fin Richardson, Edinburgh’s Rob Carmichael and Glasgow’s Ben Afshar.
Meanwhile, he is giving 10 players a chance to potentially earn their first Test caps, namely Nathan McBeth, Patrick Harrison, Robbie Smith, Will Hurd, Max Williamson, Ewan Johnson, Gregor Brown, Gus Warr, Arron Reed and Matt Currie.
With four Test matches scheduled, there are plenty of opportunities for these rookies to represent their country for the first time and do so in perhaps a less intense environment such as a Six Nations match.
Toulouse, Bath, Toulon, Glasgow and Edinburgh
We have already mentioned many of the big-name Scotland players who rested for the tour, such as Kinghorn, Russell, White, Dempsey, and Gilchrist, but their clubs are also winners.
Having these players rested for the July internationals means that they will be able to not only get some much-needed time off but will be able to feature in a full pre-season ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
As mentioned above, Russell parachuted right into the thick of Bath’s Premiership campaign, and while they were able to finish second overall, having him in from the start is a huge boost. The same applies to Kinghorn, who made the mid-season switch to Toulouse, and the list goes on for each individual player.
Losers
Andy Christie and Cameron Redpath
It’s likely that the conversations were had with the pair before Townsend decided on his final squad but considering that Christie and Redpath are not regular starters for Scotland, they could have relished the opportunity to have minutes in the starting XV this July.
Instead, they have been allowed to rest up ahead of next season, perhaps with the assurances that they will be in the mix for the November internationals. Still, with limited amount of international experience under their belts, surely they would have been raring to go.
Johnny Matthews
A rather baffling omission from Scotland’s squad is that of Glasgow Warriors hooker and try-machine Johnny Matthews.
Unlike many of the stars rested, Matthews is not a regular member of the Scotland team and in fact has just a single Test cap to his name, debuting against Romania at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
At 30-year-old, he still has plenty to offer the national team and has been consistent in all facets of the game. Towsend seems to prefer more mobile option in the form of Richardson and Ewan Ashman as well as the youth of Robbie Smith and Patrick Harrison, but Matthews not even getting a call-up is puzzling.
South Africa
Considering the depth Rassie Erasmus has at his disposal, he may not be too worried about losing two South Africans to Scotland this July, but he has indeed seen his stocks cut by two.
Glasgow Warriors prop Nathan McBeth, who represented South Africa and Scotland at u20s level, is primed to make his debut this July while versitile forward Dylan Richardson has also been selected.
Richardson made his Test debut for Scotland in November 2021 but has not played for the side since and would be eligible to switch international allegiances back to South Africa this November if he does not add to his cap tally.
His ability to play flank and hooker is a massive asset to any team, but considering the Boks’ depth in both positions, he is more likely to get more international appearances for Scotland – who he qualifies for through his father.
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Canada, USA, Chile and Uruguay
Canada, USA, Chile and Uruguay will have been thrilled to have a tier one Six Nations team touring this July and while that may still be the case, they probably will have wanted to tackle a full-strength Scottish outfit.
While this is not a poor squad heading to the Americas, the opportunity to see stars like Finn Russell in action will be enticing for the fans.
Still, it is a chance for these teams to notch up a stunning victory against the Scots and for many of the players to also put themselves into the shopping window of northern hemisphere clubs if that is one of their goals.
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