Gregor Townsend picks a squad aimed at the 2027 World Cup, and its make-up tells a warm story about modern Scotland.
LONDON, England (Feisty UK) – Scotland has a habit of punching above its weight in rugby, and it is about to put that habit to the test again. Coach Gregor Townsend has named his squad for the autumn Nations Championship, and it begins at Murrayfield against the mighty All Blacks. It is a squad worth reading closely, because it carries a good deal of the Scottish story in its names.
The squad and its one newcomer
According to Reuters coverage of the squad announcement, Scotland named 37 players for tests against New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Ollie Leatherbarrow is the only new call-up. He was born in England and qualifies for Scotland through his grandmother, and another report says he has played for Scotland at Under-16 and Under-20 level.
The injury list is shorter than it might have been. Darcy Graham, Jamie Ritchie and Duhan van der Merwe return after time out, while the veteran lock Grant Gilchrist has been left out. Townsend delayed his selection so that players could show their form in United Rugby Championship matches. The squad also includes Jack Dempsey, who has moved to the Japanese club Toshiba Brave Lupus, which means he will not be available for next year’s Six Nations.
It is a squad spread across the rugby world. Reuters lists Finn Russell at Bath, Huw Jones at Toulon, Blair Kinghorn at Toulouse, Jonny Gray at Perpignan and Will Hurd at Leicester Tigers, alongside Glasgow Warriors players such as Rory Darge and Zander Fagerson. Scottish rugby, in other words, now exports talent and imports it, and the national shirt draws the lot back to Edinburgh when the autumn comes.
The fixtures that matter
The Scottish Rugby fixture list and the news coverage line up on the details:
- Saturday 7 November: Scotland v New Zealand at Murrayfield.
- Sunday 15 November: Scotland v Australia at Murrayfield.
- Saturday 21 November: Scotland v Japan at Murrayfield.
- 27 to 29 November: the Finals Weekend in London, where northern and southern hemisphere teams meet according to their ranking.
As Scottish Rugby’s own preview of the season explains, points from the July and November rounds decide the seedings for that finals weekend. The Nations Championship is new, so most supporters are still learning how it fits together, but the principle is simple enough: every match counts.
What Townsend wants from the autumn
The coach has a clear aim. An AFP report on Townsend’s World Cup plans says he wants the autumn to build momentum before the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. When the squad was named, Scotland were second in the European standings and had lost once in three games, a 42-28 defeat to world champions South Africa in Pretoria in July. At the World Cup they sit in Pool D with Ireland, Portugal and Uruguay, and the report notes that they are expected to reach the last 16 after failing to get out of the group at the previous two tournaments.
Townsend was candid about the target: “Our goal (is) to be playing knockout rugby in 12 months’ time”. That is a modest ambition, and it shows the pressure a Scottish coach carries. No honest supporter would deny that a run of knockout rugby would be a wonderful thing to see.
The July leg of the competition was a three-match run. Scottish Rugby’s schedule listed Argentina, South Africa and Fiji, with the Fiji game staged at Murrayfield as a designated home match for the visitors. Coming through that with only one defeat is a fair platform, and Townsend said the team took a great deal of learning from the South Africa game, which is exactly what a sensible coach should say.
A squad that tells a modern Scottish story
The names are a reminder of how far Scotland’s reach goes. A report on the selection notes that four of the 37 were born in South Africa: Kyle Steyn, Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman and Nathan McBeth. Between them they bring plenty of caps, and the squad is led by captain Sione Tuipulotu, alongside Finn Russell and Blair Kinghorn.
I think this is something to be proud of rather than nervous about. A national team is a family, and Scottish families have long been scattered across the globe and welcomed new members too. When Leatherbarrow pulls on the shirt because of his grandmother, he is doing what thousands of people with Scottish roots have done in other walks of life: coming home to a place that claims them. Patriotism is at its best when the door is open and the standards are high.
Three things to watch on the day
First, the scrum, where Pierre Schoeman brings 52 caps at loosehead prop. Second, the back three, where Kyle Steyn (35 caps) and Duhan van der Merwe (54 caps) will want quick ball. Third, the atmosphere. Murrayfield on a big November afternoon is, in my view, one of the great places to watch British sport, and a loud home crowd rarely hurts a side.
A smile from the London desk
If you need a break from team sheets, I write for The London Prat, and its English humor news, comedy archive and British humor news pages are always open. Bohiney Magazine has more, and you can read more of my British life and politics reporting at The London Prat.
Kick-off is not far away. Whatever the result at Murrayfield, a good squad, a clear goal and a loud home crowd are a fine place to start.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/