Gregor Townsend has named his 36-man Scotland training squad before their two-day training camp ahead of the upcoming Autumn Nations Series.
Scotland are gearing up for four matches this autumn, with BT Murrayfield likely to be sold out for the matches against Tonga, South Africa, Australia and Japan.
The squad, which is made up of 18 players from Glasgow Warriors and 17 from Edinburgh Rugby, is due to meet on October 17 and 18 ahead of their opener against Tonga on October 30.
As this game is outside the international window, none of the English Premiership stars have been selected for this squad, which sees Dylan Richardson of the Cell C Sharks included as one of several uncapped players in the squad.
Richardson qualifies for Scotland through his father, who was born in Edinburgh, and after catching the eye during the opening rounds of the United Rugby Championship, he sees himself included at international level for the first time.
Scotland have yet to play any rugby since the 2021 Six Nations finale against France, after their summer Test matches were all cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking on the selection, head coach Townsend said: “It has been great to see both Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors make positive starts to their URC campaigns driven by some standout performances from both young and established players.
“With four tough Test matches ahead of us in this year’s Autumn Nations Series it is important we bring players together early, connect with them as coaches and enable them to grow as a group before the campaign gets underway against Tonga at BT Murrayfield. We’ll then move on to the challenge of facing in-form Australia, world champions South Africa and a very dangerous Japan team.
“We are pleased with the depth we are able to call upon to make up this training squad and it provides a genuine opportunity for players to put their hand up for selection to the full Autumn Nations Series squad.”
Scotland squad:
FORWARDS: Matt Fagerson, Nick Haining, Hamish Watson, Rory Darge, Dylan Richardson, Jamie Ritchie, Luke Crosbie, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Hodgson, Rob Harley, Marshall Sykes, Zander Fagerson, Oli Kebble, Murray McCallum, George Turner, Fraser Brown, Stuart McInally, Pierre Schoeman, Jamie Bhatti
BACKS: Rufus McLean, Damien Hoyland, Darcy Graham, Cole Forbes, Sione Tuipulotu, Mark Bennett, Matt Currie, Sam Johnson, James Lang, Kyle Steyn, Jack Blain, Blair Kinghorn, Ross Thompson, Charlie Savala, Ali Price, George Horne, Jamie Dobie
