Next Scotland squad

First topic message reminder :

I know we have a very important match still to be played on Friday, but seeing as I did a good job with my first post as a member (The Scotland 6N thread), I thought I'd start one early for the summer tour :P.

I actually got the idea after reading a status on an Irish Rugby Facebook group (I'm half Irish hence being in the group. I still support Scotland first and foremost, even last Sunday) which asked the following question that I'm about to further down this thread .

I don't think it's been officially confirmed yet but I am about 95% certain that Georgia and Romania was touted as our summer tests.

So bearing that in mind, we know that we will have a lot more new additions added to the squad and potentially even starting the games due to Lions selection.

So the question is this:-

Who would you like to see picked in the squad that hasn't been capped or named in squads before?

I will start by saying: Josh Bayliss and Ben Vellacot.

I'd also like to see more of: Jamie Dobie, Rufus McLean, Byron McGuigan, Scott Steele and Alex Craig, preferably as starters or on the bench.

I was going to add the boy Tuipolotu but tbh, he will need to prove himself at Glasgow before he's even considered for Scotland.


Also, if GT is away on Lions duty, who would coach the team, Mike Blair?

Depth at half back is as good as it's ever been, and some very promising players in the younger age brackets.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Theres a good article on rugby xv re redpath. Like these couple of snippets.

Here’s a little story for you,” Redpath tells The XV. “I FaceTimed my dad after we’d won and he was really buzzing. He sent me a video later on that night – on his 50th cap he got a bottle of whisky. He started the video by saying, ‘this is the bottle of whisky I got on my 50th cap, and I’m going to open it now to celebrate’.

“About two hours later, my sister sent me a photo of him passed out at the top of the stairs. I think he enjoyed it a little bit too much. He was pretty happy. My mum was the same, looking after him – she can handle it a lot better.”


“The best team to make my debut against would have been England,” Redpath says. “The way we won and the way I played it made me feel, ‘right, yep, I’ve definitely made the right decision’. It put the icing on the cake and put that Scotland-England debate to bed. That’s the best way to have done it.”

Let's hope he can talk his bro into representing Scotland too then :-P

Thanks 7.5 - a good quote!

https://www.scottishrugbyblog.co.uk/2021/04/scotland-depth-chart-conveyor-belt-back-3/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Last one of the week but still a very good article, I think Kevin Millar deserves a round of applause for these articles this week .

There are lots of players that I will be keeping an eye on because they are SQ, some of them are very surprising names: Nathan McBeth, Charlie Savala, Sean and Eoghan Masterston, Junior Bulumakau, Tom Dodd, Oliver Melville, Ben Muncaster, Mak Wilson, Elliott Gourlay.

There are also lots of youngsters that I will be keeping an eye on, especially when I watch Rainbow cup !matches involving Edinburgh and Glasgow: Jack Blain, Jamie Dobie, Rufus McLean, Rory Darge and Jack Owsley.

There are others but I don't want to bore you peeps by listing names of players you probably know more about thsn me, not that you guys would criticise me ig i did because you are all pleasant individuals who understand that I'm new to club Rugby.

https://www.scottishrugbyblog.co.uk/2021/04/scotland-depth-chart-conveyor-belt-final-thoughts/amp/?__twitter_impression=true.

Another good article by Kevin which is basically analysing the points he made in last week's articles. He also asks a couple of good questions regarding the liklihood of players such Muncaster, Currie and Dobie playing in the upcoming Rainbow Cup, the liklihood of a USA based player breaking into the Scotland team and questions regarding the Super 6 and Scottish Exiles.

Well worth a read .

"Japan coach Jamie Joseph plays down prospect of summer Test against Scotland" https://www.theoffsideline.com/jamie-joseph-scotland-japan/

The Offside Line hints at away matches against Georgia and Romania and another against either England or Spain after Japan rule out a test.

Sounds very much like a development tour then, which is no bad thing I guess.

A development tour 15?

1 Schoeman (I think he's Scottish by then, if not Kebble to build up his experience)
2 Kerr
3 McCallum
4 A Craig
5 G Young
6 L Crosbie
7 T Gordon
8 N Haining (still inexperienced at international level)

9 Dobie
10 VDW (give him a run of games to find his feat - Thomson and Chamberlain are still incredibly green at pro level never mind international and there's no rush)
11 Mclean
12 Redpath
13 Hutchinson
14 Tagive (he's been in a few squads - time to see what he can do)
15 Kinghorn

In reality I don't think we'd put out as green a team as that even against someone like Spain. I'm sure those on the Lions reserve list will want to be involved to keep themselves fit and ready to go to SA at short notice.

I suspect Ashman may well be in it over Kerr, who has fallen away at Leicestrr this season and has hardly played.

I don't think we will go as green as that either, quite a few of them likely to be in the squad, not not necessarily on the pitch in a game together.

RDW wrote:A development tour 15?

1 Schoeman (I think he's Scottish by then, if not Kebble to build up his experience)
2 Kerr
3 McCallum
4 A Craig
5 G Young
6 L Crosbie
7 T Gordon
8 N Haining (still inexperienced at international level)

9 Dobie
10 VDW (give him a run of games to find his feat - Thomson and Chamberlain are still incredibly green at pro level never mind international and there's no rush)
11 Mclean
12 Redpath
13 Hutchinson
14 Tagive (he's been in a few squads - time to see what he can do)
15 Kinghorn

In reality I don't think we'd put out as green a team as that even against someone like Spain. I'm sure those on the Lions reserve list will want to be involved to keep themselves fit and ready to go to SA at short notice.

Don't forget Josh Bayliss too, I expect him to be named in the squad, perhaps Charlie Chapman of Gloucester too . Yeah, I agree with BigGee, expect Ewan Ashman in too, surely he will reject Eddie's attempt to snatch him from us (if he even plans too), perhaps Rodd too, though I'd not complain if he did accept an England call up.

Sounds like we will know "shortly" who we are playing so it's time I start watching matches to see who's on form and making a push towards inclusion in the squads .

BigGee wrote:I suspect Ashman may well be in it over Kerr, who has fallen away at Leicestrr this season and has hardly played.

I don't think we will go as green as that either, quite a few of them likely to be in the squad, not not necessarily on the pitch in a game together.

Jake Kerr has been granted an early release from his contract at Tigers. Borthwick was complimentary in his comments which hasn't always been the case (see Tom Hardwick). I'd expect him to be announced at a Scottish club shortly. If he gets some Rainbow Cup game time then he could but himself up for selection and be settled into whichever club ready for next season. Given the S&C schedule at Tigers he'll be physically very fit.

I could see most of those players in the squad RDW, though agree with other comments that we will likely see an experienced spine to the starting 15.

It does show how desperate we are for TH's after Zander, Nel and Berghan that a guy who only played a few times last season is 4th choice.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

BigGee wrote:I suspect Ashman may well be in it over Kerr, who has fallen away at Leicestrr this season and has hardly played.

I don't think we will go as green as that either, quite a few of them likely to be in the squad, not not necessarily on the pitch in a game together.

Jake Kerr has been granted an early release from his contract at Tigers. Borthwick was complimentary in his comments which hasn't always been the case (see Tom Hardwick). I'd expect him to be announced at a Scottish club shortly. If he gets some Rainbow Cup game time then he could but himself up for selection and be settled into whichever club ready for next season. Given the S&C schedule at Tigers he'll be physically very fit.

With Cherry and Brown both likely to be around the international squad at times next season, then they could likely do with another hoover. Harrison is promising but at only 18, can't have to much expected of him.

They just announced release of Sam Kitchen this morning as well, which might suggest someone else is coming in for the next 5 games!

BigGee wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

BigGee wrote:I suspect Ashman may well be in it over Kerr, who has fallen away at Leicestrr this season and has hardly played.

I don't think we will go as green as that either, quite a few of them likely to be in the squad, not not necessarily on the pitch in a game together.

Jake Kerr has been granted an early release from his contract at Tigers. Borthwick was complimentary in his comments which hasn't always been the case (see Tom Hardwick). I'd expect him to be announced at a Scottish club shortly. If he gets some Rainbow Cup game time then he could but himself up for selection and be settled into whichever club ready for next season. Given the S&C schedule at Tigers he'll be physically very fit.

With Cherry and Brown both likely to be around the international squad at times next season, then they could likely do with another hoover. Harrison is promising but at only 18, can't have to much expected of him.

They just announced release of Sam Kitchen this morning as well, which might suggest someone else is coming in for the next 5 games!

If Kerr wasn't joining up with someone immediately I don't see why he'd leave his contract early. There's no benefit to sitting at home losing fitness hoping for the phone to ring. I'm sure he'll head north and do good things. I like him, good player that unfortunately doesn't fit with what Borthwick wants.

Muncaster, Sykes (isn't he SQ?) and Currie start tomorrow night and Blain and Harrison on the bench .

Good to see youngsters get game time, hopefully they do well ; I've heard excellent reviews on Muncaster.

This is a really excellent thread, so thanks everyone.

This is the first year in about 10 when i haven't followed the club/franchise scene in Scotland at all and it's good to understand where the talent is coming from.

George Carlin wrote:This is a really excellent thread, so thanks everyone.

This is the first year in about 10 when i haven't followed the club/franchise scene in Scotland at all and it's good to understand where the talent is coming from.

Other than from Ayr?

BigGee wrote:

George Carlin wrote:This is a really excellent thread, so thanks everyone.

This is the first year in about 10 when i haven't followed the club/franchise scene in Scotland at all and it's good to understand where the talent is coming from.

Other than from Ayr?

World class

Also most of the talent (dobie aside) is linked with edinburgh. That unwashed really need to start to pick up the slack and produce some good players.

For reference, Hogg came from the borders and Russell from Stirling so they dont count!

It's nurture not nature Tattie.

You may breed them but we make them Clydebuilt!

BigGee wrote:It's nurture not nature Tattie.

You may breed them but we make them Clydebuilt!

Ahhhh, that explains the turning circles achived by Nick Grigg and Rory Hughes!

Mark Palmer interview with rising Leicester star and ex Glasgow academy lock, Cameron Henderson. If there is going to be a development tour this summer, then he surely should be going on it, he looks an international in the making all day liong.


Cameron Henderson stands at 6ft 7in, so every step he takes is a big one. Even so, there was something brave and far-sighted about his decision to move to Leicester Tigers last summer. The then 20-year-old lock could have stayed for another year at Glasgow, where he had been part of the academy since leaving Strathallan School in 2018. With so many Warriors players away with the national team for big chunks of the season, there is every chance he would have got a shot in Danny Wilson’s side at some stage, but Henderson was determined not to take the easy option.

Instead, he accepted an offer to move away from family, friends and his rugby comfort zone by joining the Gallagher Premiership club where they had been keeping a close eye on him since he did a summer with their under-18 squad in 2017.

Thus far, the switch has worked out better than either party could reasonably have expected. Henderson has been a regular in Steve Borthwick’s second row, and has grabbed his chance, winning widespread praise for the abrasiveness and athleticism of his work in the company of more experienced campaigners like Calum Green, Tomas Lavanini and Harry Wells as well as fellow young pretenders George Martin, Sam Lewis and Ollie Chessum.

“I set out to get as much game-time and exposure as I could when I first moved down. I probably didn’t expect to get as much as I have done but it’s been brilliant,” says Henderson. “With every game I get more comfortable in the environment and more comfortable with the game. I could have stayed at Glasgow but I felt this was the best option in terms of getting game-time and turning into the best player I could.

“I knew straight away that I’d made the right decision, and the last year has backed that up, in terms of the amount of minutes I’ve got, and the development I feel I’ve made in my game.”

Borthwick has had him running the lineout, a serious vote of confidence from a man who for so long was one of the leading boilerhouse operators in the northern hemisphere. The former England captain and forwards coach is a demanding boss, but Henderson trusts his voice of experience implicitly.

“It’s pretty tough going, but he challenges me every week and that’s what I need with where I am at the moment. I need someone really pushing me and knowing what he wants to get out of me. Everything is backed up by evidence. Everything has a purpose. We’re not doing anything that’s not useful to where we want to go or the steps forward we want to make.

“He’s trusted me not just with playing, but having a leadership role, leading the lineout, which is more than I would have expected in my first season. But it’s something I feel I’ve grown into.

“The trust element is great for someone who is young and trying to make their way in the game. It’s been great to get it so early. Steve is world class in terms of the lineout, and as a second row, I don’t think there could be anyone better for me to be working with.”

Set piece is where Henderson feels he has made the biggest gains, and if there have been fewer of the expansive touches we saw from him with the Scotland under-20s, his displays have been marked by real mobility and consistency. “The club has a history of being ruthless in the set piece, never giving an inch, and that’s something that has come on in my game from being around experienced guys who have done it for years,” says Henderson, who is also studying finance and management at Loughborough University.

The Scot is part of a clutch of greenhorns who are keen to push themselves forward as the heartbeat of Borthwick’s refashioned team. Though Tigers seem destined to fall short of claiming a first Premiership play-off place since 2017, they could yet land silverware in the form of the Challenge Cup, in which they host Ulster in the semi-finals on Friday.

Martin’s form was enough to propel him into the England squad during the Six Nations, and he made his debut off the bench in the tournament closer away to Ireland. Henderson has had contact from the Scotland coaches, and could yet come into the mix for a summer schedule which may feature the belated revival of the A team as well as more developmental fixtures for the full side.

With Henderson, there is the additional imperative of him being dual-qualified through his English mother, Fiona. Scotland will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the tug-of-war currently taking place for Ewan Ashman, the Sale Sharks hooker who was one of Henderson’s Scotland under-20 teammates. Another age-grade colleague, Glasgow wing Rufus McLean, was — like Ashman — part of Gregor Townsend’s Six Nations squad for a time, but Henderson is determined to tackle business in sequential fashion.

“George is a really good guy. He took his chance, played really well and before he knew it, with a couple of injuries he was in [for England]. He deserved that opportunity and it shows us, the whole young crop coming through here, that Test rugby isn’t as far away as we potentially thought.

“There has been contact [from Scotland], but realistically, I’m focusing on playing for Leicester. If something like that comes about, great, but at the moment I’m not really thinking about that at all. It’s about staying in the Leicester team and playing as much as I can.”

Henderson was born in Hong Kong, where his father, Russell, still lives. He started out at Valley Fort and Hong Kong FC before moving to Scotland and Strathallan aged 13. The switch from Glasgow to the East Midlands wasn’t quite so big a change, but the Covid restrictions have rather limited his horizons in this new patch. Henderson turned 21 in January but has had to postpone the celebrations until the summer.

“We obviously haven’t had the social side of things we would have liked this year but there have been good and bad parts to that. The good part is that I’ve been completely focused on my rugby. I’ve been able to hone in and really go for it.

“I would have liked some of the other stuff to go along with it, but that’s the times we’re living in. We’ve been very lucky to be able to keep playing so we can’t really be complaining.”

Especially when things are going so well on the pitch.

BigGee wrote:

George Carlin wrote:This is a really excellent thread, so thanks everyone.

This is the first year in about 10 when i haven't followed the club/franchise scene in Scotland at all and it's good to understand where the talent is coming from.

Other than from Ayr?

We just gave you Stafford McDowall. What more do you want?

George Carlin wrote:

BigGee wrote:

George Carlin wrote:This is a really excellent thread, so thanks everyone.

This is the first year in about 10 when i haven't followed the club/franchise scene in Scotland at all and it's good to understand where the talent is coming from.

Other than from Ayr?

We just gave you Stafford McDowall. What more do you want?

Yes, he has made a massive impact this season!

Hopefully we have a lot more to come from him

tigertattie wrote:

BigGee wrote:It's nurture not nature Tattie.

You may breed them but we make them Clydebuilt!

Ahhhh, that explains the turning circles achived by Nick Grigg and Rory Hughes!  

Well its Georgia and Romania for Scotland this summer, with an A team game first, opponents to be confirmed but almost certainly to be England.

Mike Blair in charge, with De Villiers, Dalziel assisting with Pete Murchie coming in to do defence. His star seems to be on the ascent. Jim Malinder will also provide coaching support.


A few dual qualified players may have to pin their colours to the mast!

What sort of team will it be for Georgia and June, I presume it will be a strongish type of team with a couple of new caps such as Bayliss and Schoeman?

"A" tests will be youngsters such as Henderson etc, will definitely be worth watching to see how they get on and to see if they are international class/ready.

Yep, I reckon Ashman will be capped.

Finally, I'm hoping these tests are televised , it is likely to clash with end of Euros, start of Olympics (i think) and Wimbledon.

A few youngsters, Mclean, Ashman etc will get their chance in the A fixture then likely will go on and collect full caps on the tour.

Others who might get the chance are Dobie, Hunter-Hill, Hernderson, Vellacott, Thompson, Gordon and no doubt a few others.

It sounds like exactly the sort of tour we should be doing this summer. Blood some youngsters and rest some old stagers, who may well benefit in the run up to the next WC.

A team means they'll be tied to Scotland if they play right?

Ah that makes sense RDW , hopefully the youngsters take their chance then and make a push for the full team in years to come.

It's a pity that the U20 6N is on at the same time, I'd have loved to see Ben Muncaster etc play the "A" test.

Oh and one other thing, I discovered via Kev Millar Tweet, that Arron Reed is supposedly SQ, he's a winger/centre (I think) from Sale.


https://twitter.com/topofthemoonGW/status/1386309814754570243?s=19 (the rumour is in the comments to this tweet)

Now we know what our Lions contingent looks like, what sort of team do folks think we'll see in the summer (also taking injuries into account)?

Something like:

1.Schoeman 2.McInally 3.Berghan 4.Gilchrist 5.J Gray 6.Bayliss 7.Ritchie 8.Fagerson 9.Steele 10.Hastings 11.Blain 12.Redpath 13.Hutchinson 14.Graham 15.Kinghorn

I've assumed Cummings and Jones out. Not sure if it's worth using Taylor or Maitland in the summer.

I don't think we should need that strong a side against Romania and Georgia and can see some of the more senior players, or those who have played a lot of rugby this season getting a rest.

It should very much be a development tour. If they play the A team game first up, then some players can put their hands up for a place in the full team for these games.

Good opportunity for Ritchie to captain but perhaps they'll go with MacInally or Brown?

Seems like a few Warriors put their hands up for selection going by tonight: Kyle Steyn, Ratu Tagive, Cole Forbes and Ross Thompson to name a few, I've probably missed out a couple.

Can't think of any Edinburgh players though.

Agreed. Good thing for VDM that the Lions squad had already been picked.

I know you guys like these articles so here is another one from Andrew Petrie aka The Final Thistle, it is very long so could be time consuming :-P.

There are a few "interesting" names here so have a look anbd see what you peeps think .

https://thefinalthistle.wordpress.com/

So the third international this summer is going to be a A team fixture against England in Leicester on the 27th June.

Excellent opportunity for any young guns to show their wares and challenge for a spot in the full squad for the two capped matches in eastern Europe in July.

It may well be a chance for any dual qualified players who might be wavering, Dingwall and Rudd for instance, to pin their colours to one mast or another.

Looking forward to this one, the last A team game if i remember correctly announced the arrival of Hogg to the world with a length of the field try where he ran through the whole England team. We could do with some more of that!

Highland Shaun wrote:I know you guys like these articles so here is another one from Andrew Petrie aka The Final Thistle, it is very long so could be time consuming :-P.

There are a few "interesting" names here so have a look anbd see what you peeps think .

Thanks very much Shaun! Tried to cut it down a bit and update with the actual Lions that have now been named! I'm still unsure how involvement in either the 'A' games or the friendlies would tie players to Scotland long-term though..

If a player plays for Scotland in either a fully capped game (normal international) or a second team game (Scotland "A" vs England "A") they are tied. There is a weird loophole certain players are trying to represent Pacific Islands through playing in a 7s tournament but that is not really relevant for the NH.

I imagine Dingwall and Rodd will be sounded out but I imagine they will want to hold their cards to their chests. Rodd, in particular, is so young that not committing until 2023 makes the most sense.

Again, think we will see a spine of experience with players around the edges getting in. Bayliss, Ashman, Hutchinson, Henderson/Hunter-Hill, Thompson, Dobie and McLean should all be looking at a call as might Young and Vellacott. After that, I am expecting the core of the side to be made up of the usual suspects (Cummings, Skinner, McInally, Hastings, H Jones, etc.).

Welcome to the site Thistle, nice to have you on board

BigGee wrote:So the third international this summer is going to be a A team fixture against England in Leicester on the 27th June.

Excellent opportunity for any young guns to show their wares and challenge for a spot in the full squad for the two capped matches in eastern Europe in July ne'erdowells on these boards who are straining at the leash to see some live rugby and, possibly, enjoy a beer. Or two

It may well be a chance for any dual qualified players who might be wavering, Dingwall and Rudd for instance, to pin their colours to one mast or another. maladjusted misfits who have nothing better to do with their time to have a half time shandy in the ABC bar under the main stand. Last time I was there, Glasgow were annihilating the Tigers and the weegie next to me said, "I'm not actually standing here. I was invoved in a terrible accident on the M74 and the paramedics have pumped me full of morphine. this is all a hallucination: it must be."

Looking forward to this one, the last A team game if i remember correctly announced the arrival of Hogg to the world with a length of the field try where he ran through the whole England team. We could do with some more of that!

It's after the 21st June so crowds should be allowed in.

thefinalthistle wrote:

Highland Shaun wrote:I know you guys like these articles so here is another one from Andrew Petrie aka The Final Thistle, it is very long so could be time consuming :-P.

There are a few "interesting" names here so have a look anbd see what you peeps think .

Thanks very much Shaun! Tried to cut it down a bit and update with the actual Lions that have now been named! I'm still unsure how involvement in either the 'A' games or the friendlies would tie players to Scotland long-term though..

Welcome to the forum!

Hopefully these 3 matches are televised .

I have a slight dilemma though because the England A game is on at same time as Wimbledon so help me out lol, what should I do?

Highland Shaun wrote:Hopefully these 3 matches are televised .

I have a slight dilemma though because the England A game is on at same time as Wimbledon so help me out lol, what should I do?

The wonders of modern technology - watch one back later on!

Highland Shaun wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:Theres a good article on rugby xv re redpath. Like these couple of snippets.

Here’s a little story for you,” Redpath tells The XV. “I FaceTimed my dad after we’d won and he was really buzzing. He sent me a video later on that night – on his 50th cap he got a bottle of whisky. He started the video by saying, ‘this is the bottle of whisky I got on my 50th cap, and I’m going to open it now to celebrate’.

“About two hours later, my sister sent me a photo of him passed out at the top of the stairs. I think he enjoyed it a little bit too much. He was pretty happy. My mum was the same, looking after him – she can handle it a lot better.”


“The best team to make my debut against would have been England,” Redpath says. “The way we won and the way I played it made me feel, ‘right, yep, I’ve definitely made the right decision’. It put the icing on the cake and put that Scotland-England debate to bed. That’s the best way to have done it.”

Let's hope he can talk his bro into representing Scotland too then :-P

This is an awesome story!

That's Gilchrist out until at least the end of the season with an ankle injury. Such a shame for a player who has always been blighted by injury, should have far more caps than he does.

Cummings also a doubt after that nasty head knock, with Gray potentially a phone call away from South Africa.

Skinner might be the only senior second-row left standing come July! Would love to see Cameron Henderson pick up caps this summer.

Good chance for Alex Craig to get a run. What's the name of the Jed lock moving to Edinburgh too?

Glen young!

Finalthistle, a belated welcome to the Culture Club.

I like your username but it takes a bit of typing. I think I may start calling you Francie... or Josie. You remind of the time my grandparents took me to The Pavillion to see the Francie and Josie Pantomime.
The Good Fairy, who had lovely legs, uttered the immortal lines,

"No game's lost till the final whistle...
Unless you play for Partick Thistle"

Those were simpler, more innocent days, mind.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/rugby/2215792/the-breakdown-steve-scott-scotland-should-be-adventurous-in-replacing-their-lions-this-summer/

A very good article on who is likely to replace the Lions lads