Scotland Head Coach Vern Cotter today named an extended training squad to begin preparations for the Rugby World Cup 2015. Glasgow Warriors players, fresh from their victory over Munster at the weekend, will make up almost half of the squad, with a whopping 22 players from the PRO12 champions included.
Edinburgh provide 12 players, while the rest come from clubs based outside of Scotland. There is a recall for the Scarlets’ John Barclay, who returns to a Scotland squad for the first time since 2013, while Ruaridh Jackson is also included after recovering from a season-long injury at Wasps.
Cotter said: “The selection process was made easier by some good performances from a number of players, especially in the latter part of the season. Hopefully the confidence the players have gained from their successes will filter through into the rest of Scottish rugby. We’ll need that for this campaign.
“Flexibility and being able to adapt are among our key themes as we move towards the final 31 and the Rugby World Cup. This is not a firmly fixed squad, it’s a living document.
“There are a number of players we’ve spoken to who will be working on things with their clubs and looking for form, and may well feature in our warm-up games as a chance to push for selection. We’re working hard to be as cohesive as possible and push the limits of how far we can go.”
FORWARDS (25)
Props
Mike Cusack (Glasgow Warriors) – Uncapped
Allan Dell (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped
Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 44 caps
Ryan Grant (Glasgow Warriors) – 22 caps
Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – Uncapped
Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors) – 8 caps
Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons) – 4 caps
Hookers
Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 8 caps
Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) – 85 caps
Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – Uncapped
Second-rows
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – 8 caps
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
Richie Gray (Castres) – 44 caps
Jim Hamilton (Saracens) – 61 caps
Robert Harley (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps
Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps
Back-rows
Adam Ashe (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps
John Barclay (Scarlets) – 43 caps
Hugh Blake (Glasgow Warriors) – Uncapped
Blair Cowan (London Irish) – 11 caps
David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) – 25 caps
Josh Strauss (Glasgow Warriors) – Uncapped
Alasdair Strokosch (Perpignan) – 44 caps
Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap
BACKS (21)
Scrum-halves
Chris Cusiter (Sale Sharks) – 70 caps
Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh Rugby) – 5 caps
Greig Laidlaw (Gloucester) – 39 caps
Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
Stand-offs
Ruaridh Jackson (Wasps) – 25 caps
Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps
Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) – 18 caps
Centres
Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps
Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors) – 14 caps
Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps
Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby) – 25 caps
Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 12 caps
Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors) – 20 caps
Back-three
Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 32 caps
Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby) – Uncapped
Rory Hughes (Glasgow Warriors) – Uncapped
Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) – 93 caps
Sean Maitland (London Irish) – 15 caps
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 17 caps
Greig Tonks (Edinburgh Rugby) – 4 caps
Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 18 caps
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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A lot of uncapped players included at the expense of some big names
Cusack, Dell and Nel instead of Cross, Low and Allen
Blake and Strauss instead of Fusaro, Beattie and Brown
Hughes and Hoyland instead of Fife
Some big risky calls there IMO
Really happy with the squad. Nice to see that there’s actually some strength in depth developing.
Nel and Strauss will make a huge difference, top notch players, and delighted to see Barclay back in. Think there’s a few there who are there for experience of the setup rather than with a view to playing in this world cup (Hughes and Hoyland for example).
Lets just hope the players can carry on the success of Glasgow in the Pro12 and Edinburgh in the Challenge Cup.
If I had a pound for everytime I had heard a Scotland fan say they were happy with the squad and Scotland should improve off the back of the domestic form I would have about £15
In all seriousness I am struggling to see how this situation is any different from the squad announcement just before the six nations and we all know how that turned out. I see Scotland ending up in a dog fight for second place with Samoa