Wednesday, 21 October 2009

Head coach, Andy Robinson OBE, has today named three uncapped players in the Scotland squad for the opening Bank of Scotland Corporate Autumn Test against Fiji at Murrayfield next month.

The trio are back-row forwards Alan MacDonald – who celebrates his 24th birthday today – and Richie Vernon; and the Scottish Exiles centre Alex Grove. All three were part of the IRB Nations Cup winning Scotland A team that Robinson took to Romania during the summer.

Robinson said today: "We’ve chosen the squad primarily on the basis of current form and there’s a good balance of players with ten each from Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors and 12 Exiles."

Robinson praised Edinburgh flanker MacDonald for his consistency and hailed 22-year-old Vernon as an exciting talent. "Both have done well this season where, once again, the competition in the back-row is intense with Roddy Grant also knocking on the door," he explained.

Robinson noted that prop Kyle Traynor and centre John Houston (both Edinburgh) had, like Grant, raised their game and were very much in the Scotland coaches’ thoughts, though had missed out on this occasion.

The squad will gather for a three-day camp at St. Andrews on Monday 2 November then reconvene at Murrayfield on Sunday 8 November ahead of the Fiji match on Saturday 14 November.

Other players could yet force their way into contention for the remaining games in the Autumn Tests – against Australia on 21 November and Argentina on 28 November – Robinson citing Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Gray (Northampton Saints) and Allister Hogg (Edinburgh) as players whose form is being monitored closely.

Two Glasgow players who are returning from injury, centre Max Evans and lock Richie Gray, will join the Scotland squad for their camp at St. Andrews as part of their recovery programme.

Scotland squad for the opening Bank of Scotland Corporate Autumn Test against Fiji on Saturday 14 November at Murrayfield (kick-off 2.30pm):

John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors)
Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow Warriors)
Mike Blair (Edinburgh)
Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors)
Ben Cairns (Edinburgh)
Geoff Cross (Edinburgh)
Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors)
Simon Danielli (Ulster)
Nick De Luca (Edinburgh)
Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester)
Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
Ross Ford (Edinburgh)
Phil Godman (Edinburgh)
Alex Grove (Worcester Warriors) *
Dougie Hall (Glasgow Warriors)
Nathan Hines (Leinster)
Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh)
Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors)
Rory Lamont (Toulon)
Sean Lamont (Scarlets)
Rory Lawson (Gloucester)
Scott Lawson (Gloucester)
Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors)
Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh) *
Scott MacLeod (Edinburgh)
Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors)
Chris Paterson (Edinburgh)
Hugo Southwell (Stade Francais)
Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester)
Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors) *
Nikki Walker (Ospreys)
Jason White (Clermont Auvergne)

This article was originally posted on 21-Oct-2009, 13:22 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 22-Oct-2009, 00:55.