Scotland names a 41-man training squad for the Rugby World Cup, with an uncapped pair included.
Gregor Townsend, the head coach of Scotland, has named an expanded 41-man team for the Rugby World Cup taking place in France this year.
Edinburgh’s second row the squad, which will be reduced to 33 players before the competition, is captained by Jamie Ritchie.
With only two uncapped players in the training squad—lock Cameron Henderson and center Stafford McDowall—Townsend has selected 23 forwards and 18 backs.
Graham and Darge come back.
There aren’t many surprises in the Scotland squad overall, but flanker Rory Darge returns to the international team after missing the Six Nations due to injury, while wing Darcy Graham is also back after missing the start of the year due to injury.
Full-back Stuart Hogg and hooker Stuart McInally, who just stated that they will retire after the tournament, were both chosen, therefore they will both likely have their final match in France.
World Cup III Prop WP All four players—Nel, lock Grant Gilchrist, Finn Russell, and Hogg—are vying to play for Scotland in a third Rugby World Cup after appearing in 2015 and 2019.
On May 29, the training squad will come together for a training camp to start getting ready for BT Murray field’s exhibition games against France, Italy, and Georgia in July and August. In August, Scotland plays France in St. Etienne as part of a pre-tournament warm-up.
Scotland training squad for Rugby World Cup 2023
Forwards (23): Ewan Ashman, Jamie Bhatti, Dave Cherry, Andy Christie, Luke Crosbie, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Richie Gray, Cameron Henderson, Stuart McInally, WP Nel, Jamie Ritchie (c), Pierre Schoeman, Javan Sebastian, Sam Skinner, Rory Sutherland, George Turner, Murphy Walker, Hamish Watson
Backs (18): Jamie Dobie, Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Adam Hastings, Ben Healy, Stuart Hogg, George Horne, Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Stafford McDowall, Ali Price, Cameron Redpath, Finn Russell, Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Ben White