Gregor Townsend names Scotland's World Cup squad

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has confirmed his 33-man squad for Rugby World Cup 2023.

Three games into their pre-tournament series, Scotland have looked exceptionally impressive, defeating Italy and France at home before falling narrowly to France in the return fixture in Saint Etienne.

Four players have been cut from the original 37-man squad as Josh Bayliss, Stuart McInally, Murphy Walker and Jamie Dobie all miss out on the initial selection.

It was also confirmed that Jamie Ritchie will continue in his role as captain for the tournament. Ritchie is one of fifteen players in the squad to have previously featured at a Rugby World Cup.

Of these players, secondrows Grant Gilchrist and Richie Gray will be heading to their third World Cups as well flyhalf Finn Russell.

From an experienced standpoint, Scotland have a nice blend of youth and experience, with seven players possessing more than fifty caps.

The oldest of these players is prop WP Nel who is thirty-seven-years-old with fullback Ollie Smith being the youngest at twenty-two-years-old whilst former Ireland Under-20 flyhalf Ben Healy is the least experienced with just two caps.

In terms of squad complexion, Townsend has selected nineteen forwards and fourteen backs as he prepares for what will be an immensely physical pool, with South Africa, Ireland and Tonga and Romania all possessing powerful packs.

Scotland will play one more warm-up fixture against Georgia before their opening tournament clash with reigning World Champions South Africa on September 10th in Marseille.

In full the Scotland Rugby World Cup squad is as follows:

Forwards (19):
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 (14):
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
(* denotes past Rugby World Cup selection)