Gregor Townsend has selected an extended squad
Gregor Townsend has named a 41-man Scotland Rugby World Cup training squad ahead of the tournament in France.
On the same day Townsend signed a contract extension until April 2026, the head coach showed his hand by selecting a wider training group that will be cut down to 33 players ahead of the competition in September.
Townsend revealed he wanted to keep the wider squad as tight as possible, with Wales having named 54 players, to work with the players most likely to make the final group. Hooker Stuart McInally, who will retire to become a pilot after the tournament, has been included ahead of Fraser Brown while there is space for scrum-half Jamie Dobie.
Flanker Rory Darge returns from injury with fellow back-rower Jamie Ritchie once again captaining the group. Stuart Hogg is selected ahead of his retirement from the game at teh conclusion of the World Cup.
Read more: Gregor Townsend signs extension as Scotland head coach
However, there is no room for his Exeter Chiefs colleague Jonny Gray after the second-row dislocated his knee cap in the Champions Cup semi-final defeat to La Rochelle. Saracens flyer Sean Maitland and Bath’s Ruaridh McConnochie, who had switched allegiance from England, also miss out.
Gregor Townsend talks through his delight at signing a new deal, the challenge of narrowing down his training squad and his excitement for a busy few months ahead.#AsOne pic.twitter.com/bjCSbNei7y
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) May 9, 2023
There are only two uncapped players in the group with Glasgow centre Stafford McDowall and Leicester lock Cameron Henderson both picked.
Check out who made the cut, below – and see the full list of Rugby World Cup fixtures here.
Scotland Rugby World Cup training squad
Forwards (23)
Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks) 7 caps
Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) 28 caps
Dave Cherry (Edinburgh Rugby) 8 caps
Andy Christie (Saracens) 4 caps
Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) 4 caps
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 25 caps
Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors) 7 caps
Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) 9 caps
Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 33 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 58 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) 62 caps
Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 73 caps
Cameron Henderson (Leicester Tigers) uncapped
Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) 47 caps
WP Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) 54 caps
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby) – CAPTAIN – 41 caps
Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 21 caps
Javan Sebastian (Scarlets) 3 caps
Sam Skinner (Edinburgh Rugby) 25 caps
Rory Sutherland (Ulster Rugby) 23 caps
George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 35 caps
Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors) 2 caps
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) 57 caps
Backs (18)
Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors) 1 cap
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) 33 caps
Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby) 42 caps
Adam Hastings (Gloucester Rugby) 27 caps
Ben Healy (Munster Rugby) 1 caps
Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) 100 caps
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 20 caps
Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) 36 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 43 caps
Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) 61 caps
Cameron Redpath (Bath Rugby) 5 caps
Finn Russell (Racing 92) 69 caps
Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 10 caps
Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 16 caps
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 28 caps
Ben White (London Irish) 14 caps
Scotland Rugby World Cup squad 2023
The final 33-man squad can be found here as soon as it is official.
Scotland Rugby World Cup Pool
Scotland have been drawn in Rugby World Cup Pool B alongside reigning champions South Africa, Ireland, Tonga and Romania.
Sun 10 Sept Scotland v South Africa (Stade de Vélodrome, Marseille)
Sun 24 Sept Scotland v Tonga (Stade de Nice, Nice)
Sat 30 Sept Scotland v Romania (Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille)
Sat 7 Oct Scotland v Ireland (Stade de France, Saint-Denis)
The knockout stages will follow the same format as previous years, with teams from Pools A and B then Pools C and D meeting in the quarter-finals. So Wales and England could meet in the last eight, for example.
QF1 – Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D
QF2 – Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A
QF3 – Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C
QF4 – Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B
Then the semi-finals will be the Winner of QF1 v Winner QF2 and the Winner QF3 v Winner QF4.
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