Scotland skipper Jason White has been omitted from the Scotland A squad for this summer’s Churchill Cup in England as he continues his rehab from a cruciate ligament injury in a bid to build up his fitness ahead of the World Cup.
Other full internationals included in the provisional 37-man squad are Rory Lamont, Phil Godman, Johnnie Beattie, Craig Smith, Stuart Grimes, Scott Lawson and centres Graeme Morrison and Ben MacDougall.
Scotland head coach Frank Hadden will be joined by the rest of the senior Scotland management team for a tournament which he describes as “a vital part of our World Cup preparation”.
Hadden said: “Most of the players who featured throughout the RBS 6 Nations Championship will be involved in extensive fitness and conditioning work over the summer but for the players involved in the Barclays Churchill Cup, there are two challenges.
“One, to win international rugby matches for their country in a very tough environment and secondly to demonstrate their readiness for consideration of a place in the World Cup squad.
“It will be good to see the likes of Scott Lawson, Craig Smith, Ben MacDougall and Simon Webster back on the field.
“Although two of our other injured internationalists, Jason White and Mike Blair are making good progress from knee and shoulder injuries respectively, the tournament comes just too early for them at this stage of their rehabilitation.”
Scotland A made their debut in the Barclays Churchill Cup under Steve Bates in Canada last year, losing to New Zealand Maori in the final.
They open their tournament against the USA at Henley on May 23 and face England Saxons at Twickenham five days later in their other pool game.
The squad will be trimmed to 28 players before the tournament begins.
Scotland A provisional squad for the Barclays Churchill Cup:
Backs: B Cairns (Edinburgh), S Danielli (Border Reivers), N De Luca (Border Reivers), L Dickson (Newcastle Falcons), T Evans (Glasgow Warriors), P Godman (Edinburgh), C Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), R Kydd (Northampton Saints), R Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), B MacDougall (Border Reivers), C MacRae (Border Reivers), M McMillan (London Wasps), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), G Ross (Castres), S Webster (Edinburgh).
Forwards: J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), J Beattie (Glasgow Warriors), A Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby), B Douglas (Border Reivers), I Fullarton (Saracens), R Grant (Border Reivers), S Gray (Border Reivers), S Grimes (Border Reivers), A Hall (Newport Gwent Dragons), C Hamilton (Border Reivers), E Kalman (Border Reivers), A Kelly (Edinburgh), S Lawson (Glasgow Warriors), M Low (Glasgow Warriors), D Macfadyen (Glasgow Warriors), A Miller (Border Reivers), M Rennie (Bourgoin), R Rennie (Edinburgh), C Smith (Edinburgh), A Strokosch (Edinburgh), S Swindall (Glasgow Warriors), F Thomson (Glasgow Warriors).
