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Gregor Townsend names Scotland's RWC squad
Huw Jones is the big-name omission from Scotland’s World Cup squad while rookie centre Rory Hutchinson has also missed out on a seat on the plane to Japan.
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Stuart McInally has been picked ahead of former captains Greig Laidlaw and John Barclay to lead the team out for their opener with Ireland in Yokohama on September 22.
But the major news surrounds head coach Gregor Townsend’s decision to leave both Glasgow centre Jones and his midfield rival form Northampton Hutchinson out of the 31-man squad.
Jones burst onto the Test scene with nine tries in his first 14 appearances for the Dark Blues but in the 18 months since he scored a sensational double in the 2018 Calcutta Cup win over England, his form for club and country has dropped off considerably.
His deficiencies in defence have also counted him out of contention while a lack of experience appears to have contributed to the decision to leave Hutchinson behind despite the 23-year-old making a late bid for selection with a brace on his first Scotland start during Saturday’s win in Georgia.
Your Scotland squad 🏴 #AsOne #RWC2019
Full story: https://t.co/wesdXqvmZM pic.twitter.com/uBaulsOznE
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) September 3, 2019
With fit-again Saracens centre Duncan Taylor and Sam Johnson of Warriors the leading duo to start in the midfield, Townsend has opted to take Peter Horne – who can also fill in at 10 – and Chris Harris as cover. Adam Hastings has also been given the nod as back-up to star man Finn Russell at stand-off despite his ropy showing against France in Nice three weeks ago.
But Prop Jamie Bhatti has paid the price for his failure to impress during the five-try mauling inflicted upon his side at the Allianz Riviera, with Townsend deciding to take looseheads Allan Dell and Gordon Reid plus the tighthead pair of Willem Nel and Zander Fagerson.
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Simon Berghan also gets a seat on the plane based on his ability to cover both sides of the scrum. Forwards Josh Strauss, Matt Fagerson and Magnus Bradbury also miss out with Scarlets number eight Blade Thomson selected on the basis he can also slot into the second row if necessary.
'Your hotel team room had two fridges absolutely jam-packed with Steinlager… lads piled into it.’@VictorTait of @Scotlandteam takes @JLyall93 on an amusing trek back to the amateur era of 1987 when the @AllBlacks frightened @rugbyworldcup opposition https://t.co/wEuj8WH18y
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 31, 2019
Lock Bradbury has not featured at all during the Scots’ three warm-up clashes so far due to a rib injury and his lack of action has cost him his place, even though fellow second-rower Jonny Gray and hooker Fraser Brown have both made the cut despite having also sat out the double-header with France and last weekend’s Tbilisi triumph through injury. Hooker Grant Stewart and Sale wing Byron McGuigan have also been left disappointed.
New skipper McInally, speaking as he and the rest of the squad were unveiled at Linlithgow Palace, said: “It’s a very proud moment. I ended up missing the last World Cup through injury so this makes it all the sweeter. The focus is firmly on Georgia this Friday and putting in a good performance before we head off.
“I’m very fortunate that there is a number of players either side of me who have captained the team before so I won’t be short in that regard. We’re just going to take every game that comes and try to win them all. If we can get out of the group, it’s knock-out rugby after that.”
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SCOTLAND’S 31-MAN WORLD CUP SQUAD
Forwards (17)
John Barclay (Edinburgh) – 74 caps**
Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) – 21 caps
Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 42 caps*
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps
Allan Dell (London Irish) – 24 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 21 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 36 caps*
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 51 caps*
Stuart McInally CAPTAIN (Edinburgh) – 29 caps
Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 31 caps*
Gordon Reid (Ayrshire Bulls) – 36 caps*
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) – 11 caps
Blade Thomson (Scarlets) – 1 cap
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) – 20 caps
George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 27 caps
Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 44 caps*
Introducing your Scotland Captain for the Rugby World Cup 2019, Stuart McInally! #AsOne #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/wGssBcWj8S
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) September 3, 2019
BACKS (14)
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) – 6 caps
Chris Harris (Gloucester) – 9 caps
Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) – 69 caps*
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps
Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 42 caps*
Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 14 caps
Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne) – 73 caps*
Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 42 caps*
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 26 caps
Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 46 caps*
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 51 caps*
Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 22 caps
* Denotes Rugby World Cup experience
– Press Association
WATCH: Part one of Operation Jaypan, the two-part RugbyPass documentary on what the fans can expect at the World Cup in Japan
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments