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Scotland include 10 uncapped players in A team XV skippered by recalled Matt Scott
By Liam Heagney
Scotland have confirmed their A match this Sunday versus England A at Leicester is definitely on after they unveiled a starting XV containing ten uncapped players that will be skippered by the recalled Matt Scott. There were doubts over the viability of the match going ahead after it emerged on Friday that Scotland had nine players ruled out. One player had tested positive for Covid-19 and that detection resulted in eight other players being made unavailable after contact tracing.
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It left the Scots scrambling, calling up five players to ensure they have enough resources at their disposal for Sunday’s game, and interim head coach Mike Blair has now announced his delayed Scotland team selection which features 17 uncapped players in a matchday 23 that will be skippered by Scott, who had been in the international wilderness for a while until this month’s call up.
The Leicester midfielder is the most capped player in a selection where Adam Hastings is being held in reserve on a bench that is otherwise full of uncapped players. Blair said: “We have clearly had a bit of disruption this week, but the medical team and our playing squad have handled the situation extremely professionally.
“Unfortunately, it is a reminder of the world we are currently living in and the players are now isolating as per Scottish Government guidelines. Despite this, we have still had a really good training week with this young and talented squad maintaining the high standards and levels of enthusiasm that we expect while in Scotland camp.
“As we have said all week, we are treating this A game like a Test match and so the build-up and processes that we go through on a weekly basis have remained the same. We expect our squad to continue that intensity into game day, as this match gives every player an opportunity to prove themselves on the international stage.
“You’re just waiting on the news each day, you are waiting for your agent to call"
– Back on the Scotland scene after a fine season at Leicester, Matt Scott has impressively moved on from last year's angst when he had no offer for ages w/@heagneyl 👨💻 https://t.co/yHfh4NLQyC
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 13, 2021
“This is a relatively new group of players, especially with Stafford (McDowall), Callum (Hunter-Hill), Ben (Vellacott) and George (Taylor) only just coming into the squad. However, they have already shown in a short space of time that they have the ability and attitude to make a statement with their performances. The players have put in the hard work.”
SCOTLAND A (vs England A, Sunday)
15. Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby)
14. Rufus McLean (Glasgow Warriors)
13. Matt Scott (Leicester Tigers)
12. Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors)
11. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby)
10. Ross Thompson (Glasgow Warriors)
9. Charlie Shiel (Edinburgh Rugby)
1. Nick Auterac (Northampton Saints)
2. Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks)
3. Oli Kebble (Glasgow Warrriors)
4. Cameron Henderson (Leicester Tigers)
5. Kiran McDonald (Glasgow Warriors)
6. Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby)
7. Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors)
8. Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby)
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Substitutes:
16. Adam McBurney (Ulster Rugby)
17. Robin Hislop (Doncaster Knights)
18. Javan Sebastian (Scarlets)
19. Jamie Hodgson (Edinburgh Rugby)
20. Callum Hunter-Hill (Saracens)
21. Ben Vellacott (Wasps)
22. Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors)
23. George Taylor (Edinburgh Rugby)
England A locks Charlie Ewels, Harry Wells and sub Ted Hill have it all to do on Sunday#ENGvSCOhttps://t.co/zNYbDoPgno
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 25, 2021
