The glaring selection dilemma Scotland have on their hands

Gregor Townsend admits the outstanding form of Jamie Dobie has given him a scrum-half dilemma as he ponders his selection options for Scotland’s biggest game of the autumn against New Zealand next Saturday.

Ben White has established himself as Townsend’s first-choice No.9 over the past two years since the 2023 World Cup, starting nine of their 10 Six Nations games over that period and the two biggest games of last November against South Africa and Australia.

He was considered unfortunate to miss out on the original British & Irish Lions squad for their summer tour, but received a call-up after Welshman Tomos Williams was forced home injured after the first game on Australian soil against Western Force.

White impressed in his three Lions outings, starting their final two midweek games, but his summons from Scotland’s tour of the Pacific allowed Dobie to further showcase his own talents.

The versatile 24-year-old had made his first two Test starts on the wing on Scotland’s 2024 tour of the Americas, but was handed the No.9 jersey for this summer’s Tests against Fiji and Samoa, ahead of Glasgow team-mate George Horne.

That was the case again on Saturday, when Dobie scored two tries after starting at scrum-half against the USA before assisting a try for Kyle Rowe and completing his own hat-trick late on, having moved to the right wing after the introduction of Horne with half-an-hour left.

Horne himself was also in effervescent form, collecting a trademark try – his ninth for Scotland, more than any other scrum-half – and converting all their final five scores.

Asked if Dobie was now pushing White for a starting berth in the bigger games ahead, Townsend said: “Oh, absolutely. And I think George Horne is playing the best rugby of his career too. George has been doing really well in his passing accuracy and his kicking accuracy to go with other strengths.

“I think we’d always seen Jamie [Dobie] coming through and he’s come through really fast. He obviously played a lot at wing when Glasgow won their URC title [in 2023-24] but the last year he has really grown as a nine.

“Our last Test in Samoa, I think he got man-of-the-match too. He played really well today, he’s got a strong running game and can play on the wing very well – taking the high ball in the air, some of his link play. It’s going to be a tough selection this week because Ben White had a brilliant Lions tour and has started the season well with Toulon. You just hope that the three of them are fit for the whole season because they are great options for us.”

White has started only two of his five outings for Toulon this season and came on for the final 30 minutes of their 54-21 win over Lyon on Saturday.

Along with Blair Kinghorn, who kicked nine points in Toulouse’s win over Stade Français, and Jamie Ritchie, who played nearly an hour of Perpignan’s ninth straight Top 14 defeat of the season at Pau, that trio were set to join the rest of the squad on Sunday evening, along with nine exiles based in England including Finn Russell, Rory Hutchinson and Tom Jordan.

Also returning to the mix after being kept out of the USA game are a clutch of home-based players including captain Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Steyn, Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, Grant Gilchrist and Matt Fagerson.

Townsend also expects props Zander Fagerson and Elliot Millar Mills, and flanker Rory Darge, to be passed fit for full training this week on their returns from injury, giving him enviable selection headaches for the All Blacks’ visit.

The main areas of debate will be at tighthead prop, where pitching Fagerson straight back into Test action after nearly seven months out has to be weighed against the inexperience of the alternatives, at centre – where Hutchinson, Stafford McDowall, Jordan and Ollie Smith are vying to partner Tuipulotu – and at wing, where Kyle Steyn’s all-round excellence and aerial prowess is applying extreme heat on the deadly duo of Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe.

The extent of Darge’s involvement will also have a bearing on the make-up of the back row, where Ritchie, Andy Onyeama-Christie, Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey all have legitimate claims to a starting role, with Liam McConnell serving notice he will also be a factor in the weeks and months to come after an outstanding debut against the USA.

One player who won’t be facing either New Zealand or Scotland’s remaining autumn opponents Argentina and Tonga is No.8 Alex Masibaka, who sustained an elbow injury playing for Montpellier against Stade Français on 26 October and did not join the rest of the 45-man squad for their training camp early last week.

“He’s back in Montpellier; they scanned him and ruled him out for four-five weeks, so he’s dropped out,” added Townsend, who plans to cut several more players from his squad after Monday’s review of the USA game, and prepare this week with around 40.