No Hogg or Russell as Scotland name their 40-man summer tour squad

Scotland boss Gregor Townsend has included six uncapped players in a Grant Gilchrist-captained 40-man squad for the summer tour to South America following the omission of regular skipper Stuart Hogg and out-half Finn Russell. Another 2021 Lions pick, midfielder Chris Harris, has also been excluded.

Hogg’s club season at Exeter ended with last Saturday’s win over Harlequins, Russell is currently battling injury with Racing 92 contesting the Top 14 playoffs while Harris played his final game of the Gloucester campaign in their win over Saracens.

While the exclusion of the trio will be attributed to them having toured until last August with the Lions, numerous others who made that trip last year are now set to travel with Scotland. It will also place a focus on the background situation prevailing in Scotland, who took disciplinary action against a half dozen players during the recent Guinness Six Nations.

The Breakdown | Sky Sport NZ | Episode 16

The Breakdown | Sky Sport NZ | Episode 16

Long-serving Scotland skipper Hogg finished that tournament in Dublin on March 19 by addressing the previous weekend’s breach of team protocol which resulted in the full-back and five other players being disciplined for visiting a bar in Edinburgh without the permission of team management.

Russell, Ali Price, Darcy Graham, Sam Johnson, Sione Tuipulotu and Hogg all headed out on the town after they had arrived back in the Scottish capital following the round four Six Nations win over Italy. Whereas Hogg and Russell now miss out on the Scotland tour, the other four players involved in that incident will travel.

Scotland out-half Russell has spoken on @TheRugbyPod about his potential tour availability and given his thoughts on a recent suggestion by Eben Etzebeth.#Scotland https://t.co/VQ7WxrbW1w

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 11, 2022

Scotland A take on Chile in Santiago on June 25 before Scotland play a three-Test series against Argentina on successive Saturdays from July 2 where they will be captained by Edinburgh’s Gilchrist for the first time since the 2018 summer tour fixture against Canada in Edmonton. Edinburgh’s Ben Muncaster, Glen Young, Matt Currie, along with London Irish’s Kyle Rowe and Glasgow Warriors’ duo Murphy Walker and Ollie Smith, are the uncapped players in the 40-strong group.

The squad also sees Glasgow forwards Scott Cummings, Rory Darge and Matt Fagerson make their return following spells of injury along with Worcester Warriors’ prop Rory Sutherland, fellow front-rower Jamie Bhatti and Exeter lock Jonny Gray who also missed the majority of the Six Nations.

Edinburgh’s Hamish Watson has been selected and is on the cusp of reaching 50 caps for his country, just one appearance away from the milestone. Fellow British and Irish Lions players Price, Duhan van der Merwe and Zander Fagerson are also included.

Scotland 2022 summer tour squad
Forwards (22)
Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks) – 2 caps
Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 22 caps
Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby) – 18 caps
Dave Cherry (Edinburgh Rugby) – 5 caps
Andy Christie (Saracens) – 1 cap
Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) – 21 caps
Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps
Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 21 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 47 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Captain) (Edinburgh Rugby) – 53 caps
Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) – 67 caps
Jamie Hodgson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 5 caps
Ben Muncaster (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped
Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) – 9 caps
Javan Sebastian (Scarlets) – 1 cap
Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) – 20 caps
Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors) – 18 caps
George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) – 25 caps
Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 49 caps
Glen Young (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped

Backs (18)
Mark Bennett (Edinburgh Rugby) – 24 caps
Matt Currie (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) – 27 caps
Adam Hastings (Gloucester Rugby) – 26 caps
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 17 caps
Damian Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby) – 4 caps
Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints) – 5 caps
Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) – 24 caps
Huw Jones (Harlequins) – 31 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) – 31 caps
Rufus McLean (Glasgow Warriors) – 2 caps
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 51 caps
Kyle Rowe (London Irish) – uncapped
Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Ross Thompson (Glasgow Warriors) – 1 cap
Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps
Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors) – 16 caps
Ben White (London Irish) – 4 caps

Summer Tour 2022 fixtures
Chile v Scotland A | Saturday 25 June 2022, kick-off 9pm (UK time) – Estadio Santa Laura Universidad SEK, Santiago, live on Premier Sports
Argentina v Scotland | Saturday 2 July 2022, kick-off 8.10pm (UK time) – Estadio 23 de Agosto, Jujuy, live on Sky Sports
Argentina v Scotland | Saturday 9 July 2022, kick-off 8.10pm (UK time) – Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta, live on Sky Sports
Argentina v Scotland | Saturday 16 July 2022, kick-off 8.10pm (UK time) – The Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago Del Estero, live on Sky Sports