Scotland bring in SA-born quartet for Tests against All Blacks and Wallabies
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has revealed his squad for their three home Nations Championship fixtures in November.
They will face New Zealand, Australia and Japan at Murrayfield on consecutive weekends, with the tournament concluding at Twickenham based around final hemisphere positions.
Glasgow Warriors centre Sione Tuipulotu leads a 37-strong group, which includes the uncapped Ollie Leatherbarrow.
Tuipulotu, who has led Scotland in 15 of his 41 caps to date, forms part of a familiar centre stable, with Huw Jones, Rory Hutchinson and Stafford McDowall all named as options in midfield.
The back-three contingent is made up of South African-born duo Kyle Steyn and Duhan van der Merwe and includes Kyle Rowe, Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham.
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Finn Russell, Tom Jordan and Fergus Burke are the three flyhalves in the 37-player group, with scrumhalves Jamie Dobie, Ben White and George Horne completing the halfbacks.
Seb Stephen, who made his debut in July’s Nations Championship match against Fiji, is one of three hookers selected, alongside Ewan Ashman and Gregor Hiddleston.
There are more South Africans in the loosehead prop group in the form of Nathan McBeth and Pierre Schoeman. Rory Sutherland is the other player in that loosehead category.
Tightheads Zander Fagerson, Will Hurd and Elliot Millar Mills comprise the rest of the front row, with Scott Cummings, Gregor Brown, Alex Craig, Jonny Gray and Max Williamson selected as second rows.
Townsend has named Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey and Josh Bayliss, Liam McConnell, Jamie Ritchie and uncapped Leatherbarrow as the players to contest the back row positions.
Leatherbarrow qualifies for Scotland due to his grandmother being from Perth, and he has represented Scotland at Under-16s and 20s levels.
Leatherbarrow began his career at Exeter Chiefs before moving to Newcastle Red Bulls in 2023.
After hosting New Zealand, Australia and then Japan, the Nations Championship Finals move to Allianz Stadium Twickenham on the weekend of November 28/29, with fixtures determined by the placings of Northern and Southern Hemisphere countries across these games and the ones played in July of this year.
Scotland squad for 2026 Nations Championship fixtures at Scottish Gas Murrayfield (caps in brackets):
Forwards (21)
Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (37)
Josh Bayliss – Bath Rugby (17)
Gregor Brown – Glasgow Warriors (19)
Scott Cummings – Glasgow Warriors (52)
Alex Craig – Glasgow Warriors (7)
Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors (41)
Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors (35)
Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (66)
Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (84)
Jonny Gray – Perpignan (83)
Gregor Hiddleston – Glasgow Warriors (3)
Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (11)
Ollie Leatherbarrow – Newcastle Falcons (uncapped)
Nathan McBeth – Glasgow Warriors (8)
Liam McConnell – Edinburgh Rugby (2)
Elliot Millar Mills – Northampton Saints (15)
Jamie Ritchie – Glasgow Warriors (63)
Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby (52)
Rory Sutherland – Glasgow Warriors (51)
Seb Stephen – Glasgow Warriors (1)
Max Williamson – Glasgow Warriors (15)
Backs (16)
Fergus Burke – Saracens (5)
Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors (22)
Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby (57)
George Horne – Glasgow Warriors (47)
Rory Hutchinson – Northampton Saints (13)
Huw Jones – Toulon (63)
Tom Jordan – Bristol Bears (20)
Blair Kinghorn – Toulouse (68)
Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (18)
Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (19)
Finn Russell – Bath Rugby (95)
Ollie Smith – Glasgow Warriors (13)
Kyle Steyn – Glasgow Warriors (35)
Sione Tuipulotu – Captain – Glasgow Warriors (41)
Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby (54)
Ben White – Toulon (38)
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