Scotland Coach, Gregor Townsend has named a 37-man squad for the Skyscanner Americas Tour this summer, with 10 players in contention for an international debut in matches against Canada, USA, Chile and Uruguay.
Nathan McBeth, Patrick Harrison, Robbie Smith, Will Hurd, Max Williamson, Ewan Johnson, Gregor Brown, Gus Warr, Arron Reed and Matt Currie are the uncapped players on tour.
Loosehead prop McBeth, back-five forward Brown and second row Williamson, all from Glasgow Warriors, have trained with the Scotland squad in recent times along with winger Arron Reed from Sale Sharks who was in the Guinness Six Nations squad earlier this year.
Reed is joined by scrum-half clubmate Gus Warr, who has represented Scotland at age-grade level.
Patrick Harrison has impressed for Edinburgh A in recent FOSROC Super Series matches and the 21-year-old hooker, Edinburgh Rugby’s youngest ever in the position, makes the step up to international level.
Another hooker, former Scotland Under-20s captain Robbie Smith, of Northampton Saints, has been named, joining fellow former Under-20s player and Oyonnax second row Ewan Johnson.
Leicester Tigers tighthead prop Will Hurd was included in the 2024 Guinness Six Nations squad but was ruled out through injury and has earned another call-up.
Edinburgh centre Matt Currie has previous experience of a Scotland summer tour, having started against Chile two years ago for Scotland A in a 45-5 victory.
The 10 uncapped players join a raft of experienced names who played in Scotland’s 2024 Guinness Six Nations campaign with Rory Darge, Luke Crosbie, Javan Sebastian, Elliot Millar-Mills, Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Ben Healy, Harry Paterson, George Horne, Kyle Rowe, Stafford McDowall, Duhan van der Merwe, Sione Tuipulotu, Matt Fagerson, Pierre Schoeman, Scott Cummings and Kyle Steyn all touring.
Jamie Ritchie and Huw Jones are included with both players close to reaching half-century milestones for their country. Flanker Ritchie is just one cap shy with centre Jones two away from the same landmark.
Adam Hastings and Josh Bayliss are fully fit and available for the matches, having been ruled out of previous squads through injury.
Hooker Dylan Richardson made his Scotland debut back in 2021 against Japan as a back-rower, but has since changed position and recently lifted the Challenge Cup with the Sharks, coming off the bench in the final in London.
Ahead of Scotland’s four international matches in July, the leading online travel brand Skyscanner has signed naming rights for this year’s summer tour to create the Skyscanner Americas Tour.
The Skyscanner Americas Tour begins in North America where Scotland will play the Canadians in Ottawa on Saturday 6 July, before journeying to Washington DC to take on USA six days later. South America is the third stop on Scotland’s travels as they return to Chile having played in Santiago in 2022. The tour will end in Uruguay where the two sides will play each other for the first time since the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
All games will be shown live in the UK and Ireland, with broadcast details confirmed in due course.
Summer Tour Fixture List
- Saturday 6 July: Canada v Scotland, TD Place, Ottawa, kick-off: 10pm UK time, 5pm local time
- Friday 12 July: USA v Scotland, Audi Field, Washington DC, kick-off: 11.30pm UK time, 6.30pm local time
- Saturday 20 July: Chile v Scotland, Estadio Nacional, Santiago, kick-off: 8pm UK time. 3pm local time
- Saturday 27 July: Uruguay v Scotland, Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, kick-off: 8pm UK time, 4pm local time
Scotland Summer Tour Squad
Forwards
- Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh Rugby) 17 caps
- Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby) 5 caps
- Gregor Brown (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
- Alex Craig (Scarlets) 2 caps
- Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) 8 caps
- Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 38 caps
- Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors) 19 caps
- Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 44 caps
- Patrick Harrison (Edinburgh Rugby) uncapped
- Will Hurd (Leicester Tigers) uncapped
- Ewan Johnson (Oyonnax Rugby) uncapped
- Nathan McBeth (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
- Elliot Millar-Mills (Northampton Saints) 3 caps
- Javan Sebastian (Edinburgh Rugby) 8 caps
- Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 31 caps
- Robbie Smith (Northampton Saints) uncapped
- Rory Sutherland (Oyonnax Rugby) 30 caps
- Dylan Richardson (The Sharks) 1 cap
- Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby) 49 caps
- Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
- Max Williamson (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
- Glen Young (Edinburgh Rugby) 3 caps
Backs
- Matt Currie (Edinburgh Rugby) uncapped
- Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors) 2 caps
- Adam Hastings (Gloucester Rugby) 26 caps
- Ben Healy (Edinburgh Rugby) 5 caps
- George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 30 caps
- Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) 48 caps
- Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors) 2 caps
- Harry Paterson (Edinburgh Rugby) 1 cap
- Arron Reed (Sale Sharks) uncapped
- Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Warriors) 4 caps
- Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 19 caps
- Ross Thompson (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
- Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 25 caps
- Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 39 caps
- Gus Warr (Sale Sharks) uncapped
Development players
During the last two weeks of the tour, three development players will join the squad as a learning opportunity and to bolster training. Tighthead prop Fin Richardson, who has signed for Glasgow Warriors next season, will be joined by his new teammate, scrum-half Ben Afshar. Edinburgh Rugby lock Rob Carmichael will also be added to the group for the final two weeks.
Fin Richardson (Exeter Chiefs) uncapped
Rob Carmichael (Edinburgh Rugby) uncapped
Ben Afshar (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Rdtn
Sport Trivia: Who was the first person from South Africa to win the Olympic 100m sprint? Answer: Reggie Walker. South African Reggie Walker won the Olympic 100m track event in London in 1908. He set a new Olympic record of 10.8 seconds in his semi final, and equalled it in the final. He was just 19yrs and 128 days old when he won the gold medal. Paul Nash equalled the then world record of 10.0 seconds four times in 1968.
Rosie Bird
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