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Tagive earns Scotland call as Exeter Chiefs trio join up 

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Gregor Townsend is excited to have Ratu Tagive as part of his Scotland squad after handing the Glasgow Warriors winger a call-up ahead of this weekend’s clash with Wales.

Gregor Townsend is excited to have Ratu Tagive as part of his Scotland squad after handing the Glasgow Warriors winger a call-up ahead of this weekend’s clash with Wales.

Tagive first linked up with the Scotland squad back in January, as part of Townsend’s wider training cohort before the 2020 Guinness Six Nations, but recently got injured on the weekend that the coach named his group for this autumn’s games.

However, an ankle injury to Damien Hoyland and Sean Maitland’s breach of Covid protocols while on Barbarians duty mean they will be unavailable for the Championship finale against Wales on Super Saturday – handing Tagive an opportunity.

The 29-year-old will hope to make his international debut in Llanelli, while Stuart Hogg, Jonny Gray and Sam Skinner have now also joined up with the Scotland group after completing a double-winning season with Exeter Chiefs by beating Wasps in the English Premiership final last weekend.

“We welcome four players this week as we embark on our preparation for our final Guinness Six Nations match against Wales,” explained Townsend.

“Ratu was unlucky to have missed out a couple of weeks ago, picking up an injury on the weekend we selected our training squad. It’s great to have him with us now in addition to our three Exeter Chiefs – Jonny, Sam and Stuart.”

Hooker Ewan Ashman has returned to Sale Sharks after training with the squad ahead of the warm-up victory over Georgia last Friday and Edinburgh lock Grant Gilchrist will also not play during the autumn internationals after sustaining a groin injury earlier in the Scotland camp.

Matt Fagerson suffered an ankle injury in the Georgia match and will stay with Scotland under the supervision of the medical team, while Townsend stated that back-three star Maitland would be unable to join the squad after his Covid breach with the Baa Baas.

The head coach added: “We are working hard to ensure our training camp remains secure in terms of Covid protocols and as such Sean’s actions last week with the Barbarians mean that he won’t be able to re-join our group now and we will review the situation in the coming weeks.”