Scotland name squad to prepare for Argentina test

Gregor Townsend has named a 36-man Scotland squad for the opening round of the newly-established Nations Championship. The Scots will take on Los Pumas in Córdoba on July 4, followed by the Springboks in Pretoria on July 11, and finally the Flying Fijians at Murrayfield on July 18.

Sione Tuipulotu captains a selection that includes most of the first choice side that finished third in the Six Nations. There are two uncapped players in Glasgow Warriors hookers Gregor Hiddleston and Seb Stephen. Both represented Scotland ‘A’ earlier this year. They join Canadian-born Ewan Ashman as the options in the No2 shirt.

Notable absentees include three regulars ruled out with injury – hooker George Turner, flanker Jamie Ritchie, and outside center Huw Jones. Townsend has opted to rest second row Grant Gilchrist and fullback Blair Kinghorn, citing heavy workloads in recent months.

The Scots are currently ranked 7th in the world, with Argentina just ahead in 5th and South Africa clear at the top of the table. Fiji are not far behind Scotland in 9th spot. Scotland were defeated by Los Pumas by a score of 33-24 during their most recent encounter in Edinburgh this past November.

 

LOOSEHEAD PROP
Nathan McBeth (Glasgow Warriors) 8 caps
Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh) 49 caps
Rory Sutherland (Glasgow Warriors) 48 caps

HOOKER
Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh) 35 caps
Gregor Hiddleston (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Seb Stephen (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped

TIGHTHEAD PROP
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 81 caps
Will Hurd (Leicester Tigers) 10 caps
Elliot Millar-Mills (Northampton Saints) 14 caps
D’Arcy Rae (Edinburgh) 7 caps

SECOND ROW
Gregor Brown (Glasgow Warriors) 16 caps
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 49 caps
Jonny Gray (Perpignan, FR) 81 caps
Alex Samuel (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
Max Williamson (Glasgow Warriors) 13 caps

BACK ROW
Josh Bayliss (Bath) 16 caps
Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh) 22 caps
Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors) 39 caps
Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) 33 caps
Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh) 2 caps
Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 64 caps
Liam McConnell (Edinburgh Rugby) 1 cap

SCRUMHALF
Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors) 19 caps
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 45 caps
Ben White (Toulon, FR) 36 caps

FLYHALF
Fergus Burke (Saracens) 3 caps
Tom Jordan (Bristol Bears) 17 caps
Finn Russell (Bath) 94 caps

MIDFIELD
Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints) 11 caps
Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors) 16 caps
Sione Tuipulotu (capt., Glasgow Warriors) 38 caps

OUTSIDE BACKS
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) 55 caps
Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Warriors) 17 caps
Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) 12 caps
Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 33 caps
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh) 53 caps