Scotland have named a 40-man squad for their Autumn Tests against Wales, Fiji, South Africa and Argentina. Gregor Townsend’s men will face Wales in Cardiff on 3 November to contest the ‘Doddie Weir Cup’. A full programme of activity to support Weir’s ‘My Name’5 Doddie’ Foundation. Weir has become a tremendously effective campaigner for sufferers of Motor Neuron Disease since announcing his own diagnosis in June of 2017 (see below for details of how you can support the campaign).
Click here to buy tickets for Scotland's November matches from the SRU!
Scotland will then face Fiji, South Africa and Argentina on consecutive Saturdays as Townsend, who toured South Africa as a Lion with Weir in ’97, looks to build on what has been a promising 12 months. Townsend said: “We’ve named a 40-man group for this campaign, which highlights the quality of player that is now available to us and the competition for places. “It also enables us to welcome more players into our training environment and hopefully give a few more players a taste of Test match rugby. “It’s going to be an exciting year for the squad but our primary focus is fixed on performing well against Wales – familiar opponents who have already recorded a win against us this year.” Lions trio Greig Laidlaw, Sean Maitland and Tommy Seymour are among those who will be expected to provide leadership in the key matches, with that clash against the Springboks set to take place in front of an already sold-out BT Murrayfield. Allan Dell and Finn Russell also picked up valuable Lions experience as replacement players during the 2017 Tour of New Zealand. Adam Hastings, son of the great Scotland and Lions full-back Gavin, is another on whom there will be plenty of attention after impressing in his first three Tests. Captain John Barclay and Lions Richie Gray and Stuart Hogg are among those who miss out through injury.
When accessing tickets to the Wales v Scotland match, supporters will be given the opportunity to automatically donate to the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust, although there is no obligation to do so with £0, £1, £2, £5 options available. Donations to the charity can also be made directly online at: www.myname5doddie.co.uk/donate.
Scotland squad for the 2018 November Series (Lions in bold):
Forwards (22)
Alex Allan (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) – 10 caps Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh) – 4 caps Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps
Allan Dell (Edinburgh) – 13 caps
David Denton (Leicester Tigers) – 42 caps Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 1 cap Ross Ford (Edinburgh) – 110 caps Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 25 caps Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 43 caps Rob Harley (Glasgow Warriors) – 20 caps Murray McCallum (Edinburgh) – 3 caps Stuart McInally (Edinburgh) – 18 caps Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 22 caps Gordon Reid (London Irish) – 32 caps Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) – 2 caps Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) – uncapped Blade Thomson (Scarlets) – uncapped Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) – 12 caps George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 20 caps Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 37 caps
Backs (18)
Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors) – 28 caps Dougie Fife (Edinburgh) – 8 caps Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons) – 4 caps Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 2 caps Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 35 caps Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 16 caps Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 5 caps
Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne) – 63 caps
Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 34 caps
Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks) – 5 caps Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 17 caps Henry Pyrgos (Edinburgh) – 27 caps
Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 37 caps
Matt Scott (Edinburgh) – 39 caps
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 43 caps
Not considered through injury:
John Barclay, Mark Bennett, Lewis Carmichael (all Edinburgh), Cornell du Preez (Worcester Warriors), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Toulouse), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors), Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Taylor (Saracens).
