Host of stars rested for Scotland tour of Americas
NEWS: Finn Russell is one of several senior Scotland internationals left out of an experimental squad announced Wednesday for an upcoming tour of the Americas.
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend named 10 uncapped players in his 37-strong squad, including Sale scrumhalf Gus Warr.
Townsend’s men will play Canada, the United States, Chile, and Uruguay – none of them top-flight rugby nations – next month as Scotland looks to develop their depth after a frustrating 2024 Six Nations Championship where they finished in fourth place.
Flyhalf Russell’s domestic season only finished on Saturday when the 31-year-old was involved in Bath’s agonising 21-25 loss to Northampton in the English Premiership final at Twickenham.
Glasgow-bound Adam Hastings, the son of Scotland great Gavin Hastings, will now aim to win his first cap since November 2022 as he competes for the No. 10 shirt alongside Ben Healy and Ross Thompson in Russell’s absence.
Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Richie Gray, Jack Dempsey, and Darcy Graham are among the senior players who have been left out, together with the France-based pair of Ben White and Blair Kinghorn – a Champions Cup winner with Toulouse – and the Japan-bound George Turner.
But the experienced Duhan van der Merwe, Matt Fagerson, Huw Jones, Pierre Schoeman, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge, Kyle Steyn, Scott Cummings, and Sione Tuipulotu have all been selected in what is a largely fresh-faced squad.
As well as Warr, the likes of Nathan McBeth, Patrick Harrison, Robbie Smith, Will Hurd, Max Williamson, Ewan Johnson, Gregor Brown, Arron Reed, and Matt Currie will be looking to make their Test debuts next month.
Scotland begin their tour against Canada in Ottawa on July 6 before facing the United States in Washington a week later.
Townsend’s side then travels to Chile for a match on July 20 ahead of their tour finale against Uruguay the following week.
Scotland squad:
Backs: Matt Currie, Jamie Dobie, Adam Hastings, Ben Healy, George Horne, Huw Jones, Stafford McDowall, Harry Paterson, Arron Reed, Kyle Rowe, Kyle Steyn, Ross Thompson, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Gus Warr
Forwards: Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Gregor Brown, Alex Craig, Luke Crosbie, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson, Patrick Harrison, Will Hurd, Ewan Johnson, Nathan McBeth, Elliot Millar-Mills, Javan Sebastian, Pierre Schoeman, Robbie Smith, Rory Sutherland, Dylan Richardson, Jamie Ritchie, Murphy Walker, Max Williamson, Glen Young
