Sione Tuipulotu to captain Scotland in November Tests, as five uncapped players make Gregor Townsend’s squad
Glasgow Warriors centre Sione Tuipulotu has been named as Scotland captain for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series, and he headlines a strong 45-man squad for Gregor Townsend.?
The squad also sees five uncapped players included,?in the form of Glasgow pair Alex Samuel and Tom Jordan as well as Edinburgh trio?Ben Muncaster, Freddy Douglas and Mosese Tuipulotu – brother of Sione.
Gregor Townsend names strong 45-man Scotland squad for Autumn Nations Series
Scotland boss Townsend has named a whopping 26 forwards in his 45-man squad. Imposing back-rower Rory Darge will remain as vice-captain, but he will vie for a spot with?Jamie Ritchie, Matt Fagerson, Jack Dempsey, Luke Crosbie, Josh Bayliss and Gregor Brown.
Ewan Johnson’s impressive showings in the summer tour are rewarded with another call-up to the squad, and he is joined by?Grant Gilchrist, Scott Cummings, Max Williamson, Alex Craig and Alex Samuel in the locks.
The front-row is arguably the strongest unit Scotland have right now. Ewan Ashman, Dylan Richardson and Patrick Harrison form the ranks at hooker, with Pierre Schoeman, Zander Fagerson, Jamie Bhatti, Will Hurd, Nathan McBeth, Elliot Millar Mills, Rory Sutherland and Darcy Rae all named as prop options.
In the back division, skipper Tuipulotu could be joined by any combination of Huw Jones,?Stafford McDowall, Matt Currie or brother Mosese. Elsewhere, star fly-half Finn Russell is named as a vice-captain and forms a formidable half-back unit alongside Adam Hastings, Tom Jordan,?Ben White, George Horne, Ali Price and Jamie Dobie.
Toulouse star Blair Kinghorn is named alongside?Harry Paterson, Duhan van der Merwe, Kyle Rowe, Arron Reed and Darcy Graham as potential back three options.
Commenting on his selection, head coach Townsend said: “We’ve been encouraged by the early season performances of our players and are looking forward to working with them once again. We had some stand-out performers on our summer tour, who have earned their selections for the Autumn Test campaign.”
He also explained the reasoning behind naming Sione Tuipulotu as captain: “Sione has been one of our key leaders over the last couple of years and thrives in that leadership role. We’ve seen that in his outings as Glasgow captain and when he had the opportunity to lead the team against Chile a few months ago.”
Townsend added: “Last season we looked to deepen our leadership group and we now have a number of people who could step up as captain. Sione is aware that he will have leaders around him to offer support and share the leadership responsibilities needed throughout the week and during the game.”
Scotland 45-man squad in full
Forwards (26):?Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Jamie Bhatti, Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings, Luke Crosbie, Alex Craig, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Freddy Douglas, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Patrick Harrison, Will Hurd, Ewan Johnson, Nathan McBeth, Elliot Millar Mills, Ben Muncaster, D’Arcy Rae, Dylan Richardson, Jamie Ritchie, Alex Samuel, Pierre Schoeman, Rory Sutherland, Max Williamson
Backs (19):?Matt Currie, Jamie Dobie, Darcy Graham, Adam Hastings, George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Huw Jones, Tom Jordan, Blair Kinghorn, Stafford McDowall, Harry Paterson, Ali Price, Arron Reed, Kyle Rowe, Finn Russell, Mosese Tuipulotu, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Ben White
READ NEXT:?Autumn Nations Series: All the squads as they are announced ahead of the jam-packed Test window