Jamie Ritchie will lead Scotland at a Rugby World Cup for the first time after Gregor Townsend confirmed his 33-man squad.
Flanker Ritchie, who first captained Scotland during the 2022 Autumn Nations Series, leads an experienced squad which includes 15 players to have appeared at a previous World Cup.
There is no place for hooker Stuart McInally, who led his country four years ago in Japan, and he is now set to retire after his omission, pursuing a career as a commercial airline pilot.
Fly-half Finn Russell and second rows Richie Gray and Grant Gilchrist all are set for a third successive tournament, while back-row Jack Dempsey who represented Australia in the 2019 tournament, is included.
Full-back Ollie Smith is the youngest in the squad having recently turned 23, while the evergreen WP Nel is the eldest at 37 years old.
The unlucky four to miss out from Townsend’s training squad are McInally, Murphy Walker, Josh Bayliss and Jamie Dobie.
Alongside Smith, those preparing for their Rugby World Cup debut are stand-off Ben Healy, forwards Ewan Ashman, Dave Cherry (both hooker), Jamie Bhatti, Pierre Schoeman, Rory Sutherland (all loosehead prop), Javan Sebastian (tighthead prop), Sam Skinner (second row) and back-row trio Luke Crosbie, Rory Darge and Matt Fagerson.
Scrum-half Ben White, centres Huw Jones, Cameron Redpath and Sione Tuipulotu, and wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Kyle Steyn complete the selection.
Scotland conclude their preparations against Georgia on 26th August in their fourth and final Summer Nations Series fixture.
They then begin their World Cup campaign against South Africa, before games against Tonga, Romania and Guinness Six Nations rivals Ireland.
SCOTLAND SQUAD FOR RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023
Forwards
Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh Rugby) 8 caps Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) 31 caps Dave Cherry (Edinburgh Rugby) 9 caps Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) 5 caps Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 28 caps Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors) 10 caps Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) 11 caps Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 35 caps Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 59 caps Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) 64 caps Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 75 caps WP Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) 55 caps Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby) – CAPTAIN – 42 caps Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 23 caps Javan Sebastian (Edinburgh Rugby) 5 caps Sam Skinner (Edinburgh Rugby) 27 caps Rory Sutherland (Unattached) 25 caps George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 37 caps Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) 58 caps
Backs
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) 35 caps Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby) 43 caps Ben Healy (Edinburgh Rugby) 2 caps George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 22 caps Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) 38 caps Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 46 caps Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) 63 caps Cameron Redpath (Bath Rugby) 7 caps Finn Russell (Bath Rugby) 71 caps Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) 5 caps Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 12 caps Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 18 caps Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 30 caps Ben White (RC Toulon) 15 caps
