Grant Gilchrist to captain Scotland summer tour – Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell don’t travel

27 Comments

1. agree re Hamish, a player that always gives everything, time off would have been sensible

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2. Interesting selection with a number of omissions A lot of which I imagine are the result of injuries. Under this category I include Ritchie, Steyn, Vellacott, McInally and Redpath. Others like Nel,Berghan and Bayliss I wonder about. Dempsey I believe needs to wait until September before he can decide on switching to Scotland even if he wants to. Opportunities for some players to move up the ladder.

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3. Always hope in these summer tour squads that the analysts will unearth a new mystery kilted kiwi or jock bok to help boost the pack out but alas not this time. I was also hoping that Fin Smith would déclaré but maybe one for the next World Cup cycle. The one I was half expecting was Charlie Chapman .. he has been starting with Hastings for a lot of games since Christmas and little combos are useful on tour.
   Would love to see Hutchinson and Bennett in midfield together. Just frustrated that pack still looks lightweight and I would have liked to given another prop experience … not sure Sebastian is the future.

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4. Vellacott potentially injured as he was out for the final Edinburgh game.
   Ireland performed the best out of the “Home Nations”. I don’t think it was a coincidence that they had the fewest lions representation on tour. Rest is key.
   Hogg, Russell and Harris all made mistakes in 6N, every player makes them but possibly have played a bit too often of late.

   Matches against like this one against Chile and Australia in November with only Scottish based players are necessary to test the developing and fringe players.
   There have been some drops in performance of late when substitutions come on.
   Fullback and wing two positions where further depth needed. We need to have a top notch third choice winger pushing VdM and Graham but also need a second choice fullback. Who is Scotland’s second best 15? Is it now Huw Jones? Maybe… But need to test new players I’m worried wheels could come off at the next world cup. We need a strong 6N next year if we have any chance of competing in our pool.

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   • Hoggy will be in the Hut on Thursday and Friday then up the Mair

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5. I’d also have given Schoeman the summer off (he’s played an awful lot of minutes this season). But without him we’d start to risk looking quite lightweight against the Pumas pack up front. Glad to see Hutchison in the squad too. Some really interesting combinations in prospect.

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   • Oscaig, Schoeman has looked somewhat tired lately however with Kebble out of favour Schoeman had to travel, maybe a fit Sutherland can feature more.

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6. Chris Dean is unlucky..

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   • 100% both him and Lang have added so much creativity and options for ER

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7. Some interesting omissions. No Redpath, Steyn, Ritchie or as others have mentioned Vellacott or Nel. I assume all are injured. No Berghan, Matt Scott, Craig or surprisingly Josh Baylis who has impressed when I have seen him play. Not sure what will happen with Richie Gray. Imagine Dobie will play with the U 20s. Finally Dempsey won’t potentially qualify until September. It will be interesting to see if he opts to switch to Scotland, class player.

8. Never thought Hoyland offered anything special or different however he seems a different player this season under Mike Blair. Absolutely worthy of his place.

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9. No Jack Dempsey – pity.

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   • He doesn’t become eligible until October.

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     • My mistake – thanks Charlie.

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10. RodB VDM only played 8 games for Worcester this season

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11. So Fin Smith said no – sad, he’s a great prospect but opting for Scotland is a big risk with the new English rules on foreign players. I’d have left all the Lions at home to rest, not just Hogg and Russell – and especially Lions test players like VDM and Price – as next season will be huge and they need rest. Good to see Jones and Hastings back. Cannot understand why Vellacott is not included. I know Price, Horne and White but still, rest Price and bring in Vellacott. Hope Nel is another rest rather than an omission… Is McInally still injured?

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    • RodB VDM only played 8 games for Worcester this season

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12. With no Nel to back up Fagerson, or even Berghan, we may be a bit inexperienced in that department.

13. Vellacott, Matthews unlucky

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    • Vellacott missed the last Edinburgh game through injury so I wonder if he is being given the summer off to rehab…

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14. No left-field selections from the Toonie tombola. No sign of Arundell, Roebuck, Dingwall, Fin Smith, or Chapman, who had all been speculated about. Wonder if the fact the Chile game is outside international window and therefore English based players might not be released for that one had any bearing on the selection?

    Delighted that Cummings, Matt Fagerson and Darge are all fit enough to travel.

    Personally I would have rested Zander Fagerson, Ali Price and Hamish Watson after their Lions tour last year, but with them all being based in Scotland their workload will have been managed with this tour in mind.

    No sign of Josh Bayliss – presume he is injured, because he has looked excellent for Bath and Scotland.

    Delighted with the call ups for Ollie Smith, Murphy Walker and Ben Muncaster. Surprised Jamie Dobie has been ommitted.

    Finally, a wee bit disappointed for Johnny Matthews after a terrific season that he didn’t get rewarded for his fine form with an ‘A’ cap against Chile.

    But overall its a group picked to win a test series in Argentina and give an opportunity to some younger guys who might just push on into the World Cup squad in 16 months time.

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    • agree re Hamish, a player that always gives everything, time off would have been sensible

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15. I don’t think it does any harm to give Hogg, Russell and Harris the summer off and don’t read any more into their exclusion than that. It’ll be interesting to see how the uncapped players are used in the opening fixture and how that influences squad selection from then on, if at all. It’ll also be interesting to see how the number 10 position is filled.

    Might Ritchie have been a consideration for the captaincy if he’d recovered?

    Others will have seen more of him than I have, is Hoyland international standard? He seems to have been around for a long time and rarely offers anything of note.

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    • Huw Jones [good to see him back in the fold] has been putting in good performances at full back for Quins I wonder if Kinghorn reverts to that position rather than 10.

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    • Hoyland has been playing well this season. I wouldn’t put him ahead of Graham, DvdM or McLean but he is decent.

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      • Thanks, good to know. I think I’ve only seen him play once this season and hadn’t seen any mention of him that I can recall, so it was a bit of a surprise to see him in the squad.

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      • Agreed, but definitely getting back to his best now.

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