Scotland Rugby World Cup squad – Townsend picks 41-man training group

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.

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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