Scotland at full strength for end-of-year Tests
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has called up his full complement of 2021 British & Irish Lions in a 42-man squad for the Autumn Nations Series.
The extended group welcomes back captain Stuart Hogg, half-back pairing Ali Price and Finn Russell, centre Chris Harris, wing Duhan van der Merwe, flanker Hamish Watson as well as props Zander Fagerson and Rory Sutherland following their involvement in the South African series.
Wallabies Test sold out
Support for Scotland continues to build ahead of the Autumn Nations Series with the confirmation on Wednesday that the match against Australia on Sunday, November 7 is sold out.
A total of 11 new players are added to the squad ahead of the opening game against Tonga on October 30 from the training group which came together earlier this week at the Oriam High Performance Centre.
Alongside the Lions contingent, centres Matt Scott, Huw Jones and fly-half Adam Hastings retain their places alongside flanker Sam Skinner from Scotland’s summer tour squad, which was hampered by Covid cancellations.
Also progressing to the Autumn Series squad are Edinburgh backs Darcy Graham, Blair Kinghorn, Damien Hoyland and Mark Bennett. They are joined by fellow capital team-mates Grant Gilchrist, Stuart McInally, Jamie Ritchie and Nick Haining.
Scotland’s west-based professional side Glasgow Warriors provide experience also in the form of hookers Fraser Brown and George Turner, lock Rob Harley and back-row Matt Fagerson. Props Jamie Bhatti, Murray McCallum and Oli Kebble are also selected.
Glasgow Warriors centre Sam Johnson joins scrum-half George Horne and wing Kyle Steyn, who all also missed out on possible game time in the summer series and will compete again for places this autumn.
Head coach Townsend has selected 12 uncapped players to be part of the tournament squad following their initial involvement in the training group this week.
In the pack Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Rory Darge, Dylan Richardson, Luke Crosbie, Jamie Hodgson, Marshall Sykes and Pierre Schoeman will all be keen to feature in the four-match series, which begins against Tonga and sees Scotland play Australia, South Africa and Japan on consecutive weekends.
Glasgow Warriors provide all the uncapped backs in Rufus McLean, Jamie Dobie, Ross Thompson and Sione Tuipulotu.
“It’s exciting to bring together a blend of highly experienced and uncapped players for our first week of the Autumn Nations Series campaign,” said Townsend.
“There have been some notable performances from both our home-based players and those at clubs outside of Scotland, which has enabled us as coaches to select a group which are playing well and will be motivated across the four games.
“We also feel that this the right time to bring in some younger players given their early season form. They have created opportunities for themselves to represent their country and we believe that they will thrive in the Test match environment.
“We face four tough matches in four weeks and Tonga, Australia, South Africa and Japan each present a different challenge and an opportunity to perform in front of our people at BT Murrayfield. It’s great to hear that we will now play Australia in front of a capacity crowd at BT Murrayfield, and it means a huge amount to the players to have this level of support.”
Scotland squad for Autumn Nations Series
Forwards: Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown, Luke Crosbie, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Nick Haining, Rob Harley, Jamie Hodgson, Oli Kebble, Murray McCallum, Stuart McInally, Dylan Richardson, Jamie Ritchie, Sam Skinner, Pierre Schoeman, Rory Sutherland, Marshall Sykes, George Turner, Hamish Watson
Backs: Mark Bennett, Darcy Graham, Jamie Dobie, Chris Harris, Adam Hastings, Stuart Hogg, George Horne, Damien Hoyland, Sam Johnson, Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Duhan van der Merwe, Rufus McLean, Ali Price, Finn Russell, Matt Scott, Kyle Steyn, Ross Thompson, Sione Tuipulotu
