Rugby World Cup 2023 Scotland Squad Announcement
Gregor Townsend has named his final squad of 33 for the Rugby World Cup in France next month.
The Scotland head coach had to drop four players to whittle the selection down, with Stuart McInally the highest profile casualty. The hooker had hoped to bow out at the tournament before pursuing a new career as a pilot but Townsend has selected George Turner, Ewan Ashman and Dave Cherry as his three hookers, the latter two making their first appearances at a World Cup.
The other players to be cut from the training squad are scrum-half Jamie Dobie, prop Murphy Walker and flanker Josh Bayliss.
Dobie, the Glasgow Warriors scrum-half, loses out to Ben White, Ali Price and George Horne, while Walker is pipped by Javan Sebastian who will go to France as the third-choice tighthead behind Zander Fagerson and WP Nel. Bayliss, a late addition to Townsend’s training squad, also drops out, with the Scotland coach taking Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Hamish Watson and Luke Crosbie as his six back-rows.
Ritchie will captain the squad which is made up of 19 forwards and 14 backs and comprises 14 players from Edinburgh, 14 from Glasgow, two from Bath, one from Gloucester, one from Toulon and one who is unattached - Rory Sutherland.
Second rows Richie Gray and Grant Gilchrist, tighthead prop WP Nel, and stand-off Finn Russell are all set to appear in their third World Cup. Ritchie, Zander Fagerson, Turner, Scott Cummings, Watson, Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Blair Kinghorn, Horne and Price will be representing Scotland at a second World Cup while Dempsey is also going to his second World Cup having played for Australia in Japan four years ago.
Gregor Townsend has named his final squad of 33 for the Rugby World Cup in France next month.
The Scotland head coach had to drop four players to whittle the selection down, with Stuart McInally the highest profile casualty. The hooker had hoped to bow out at the tournament before pursuing a new career as a pilot but Townsend has selected George Turner, Ewan Ashman and Dave Cherry as his three hookers, the latter two making their first appearances at a World Cup.
The other players to be cut from the training squad are scrum-half Jamie Dobie, prop Murphy Walker and flanker Josh Bayliss.
Dobie, the Glasgow Warriors scrum-half, loses out to Ben White, Ali Price and George Horne, while Walker is pipped by Javan Sebastian who will go to France as the third-choice tighthead behind Zander Fagerson and WP Nel. Bayliss, a late addition to Townsend’s training squad, also drops out, with the Scotland coach taking Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Hamish Watson and Luke Crosbie as his six back-rows.
Ritchie will captain the squad which is made up of 19 forwards and 14 backs and comprises 14 players from Edinburgh, 14 from Glasgow, two from Bath, one from Gloucester, one from Toulon and one who is unattached - Rory Sutherland.
Second rows Richie Gray and Grant Gilchrist, tighthead prop WP Nel, and stand-off Finn Russell are all set to appear in their third World Cup. Ritchie, Zander Fagerson, Turner, Scott Cummings, Watson, Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Blair Kinghorn, Horne and Price will be representing Scotland at a second World Cup while Dempsey is also going to his second World Cup having played for Australia in Japan four years ago.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Hello, it's Graham Bean for the Scotsman down at Queen's Ferry. We're here for the Scotland
00:10 Rugby World Cup squad announcement. Gregor Townsend has today named us 33 players that
00:15 he's going to take to the tournament in Japan next month. So it means there's four players
00:19 that have been cut out of the squad, so that's unfortunate for Stuart McAnally, Jamie Doby,
00:25 Murphy Walker and Josh Bayliss. And good news for the other 33 who will be travelling to
00:32 France at the start of September. Scotland have got one more game to play before they
00:36 go. They play Georgia at Murrayfield on August 26th. Then it's all roads lead to France and
00:43 their tough Pool B section where they've been drawn against South Africa, Tonga, Romania
00:48 and Ireland. It's a really tough draw but the squad are upbeat and confident mood. Jamie
00:55 Ritchie thinks it's the best group of players arguably that Scotland have ever put together.
00:59 Yeah, really excited, really proud. I've said this before, captaining is not something that
01:05 you dream of as a kid. You just dream of playing and running at Murrayfield in front of all
01:10 those people and getting to live out that kind of dream. Whereas, captaincy is probably
01:14 more something that comes into it when you're already kind of involved and I think really
01:18 lucky to have the group of men that I'm able to lead. So yeah, really, really special.
01:24 Really strong, I think. Arguably, probably one of the strongest ever. I think the depth
01:29 that we have is excellent. Even you look at the guys who unfortunately have missed out
01:34 on the squad, could easily have been in there and arguably would have been in there in previous
01:38 World Cups. Yeah, a really strong group and I think we're building really nicely.
01:43 Gregor Timez admitted it was really tough to tell the four players that they were not
01:47 going to the World Cup. Yeah, there was obviously disappointment, real disappointment and you'll
01:51 get different views, different conversations. Sometimes they're quiet, sometimes they're
01:59 very grateful for the opportunity they've had over the last two months but also there's
02:04 anger that they've missed out on something that they've set as a big goal in their lives.
02:12 What I've said to all the players is be ready for your opportunity because our sport does
02:18 involve injuries, like any sport, but in particular ours when there's collisions. So I'd be very
02:25 surprised if the 33 that we announced today remains the same as we go throughout the tournament.
02:31 So those players that missed out could still play a big role in this tournament.
02:36 We also spoke to Sione Tupulotu, Scotland's centre, who'd gone to his first World Cup.
02:41 He's been in excellent form in the warm-up games against France in particular.
02:45 Gregor gave me a bell, actually, when was that? I want to say Monday during the day.
02:51 Just gave me a bell and said, 'Yeah, I'm in the squad' and yeah, it was exciting, isn't it?
02:55 It's been awesome. I think I really needed the minutes under my belt, obviously after
02:59 a tough pre-season and my body's feeling good and I feel like I'm in a good place to go
03:03 over there and put out my best performances when they count during the World Cup.
03:06 Jamie's been around a bit longer than I have in Scotland so he's probably seen a few to
03:10 make the judgement call but it's definitely the strongest squad I've ever been a part of
03:16 in rugby in general. I'm honoured to be a part of it and I suppose when you get over
03:21 there all you want to do is contribute. I'm super excited along with all the boys and
03:24 we can't wait to get over there and do Scotland proud.
03:26 Go on.
03:26 [END]