2024 Summer Internationals

[BaldiePete]

Scotland are doing their bit for Tier 2 with a tour of the Americas in the summer. I’d guess we’re seeing this as a development tour so we’ll probably see fringe players getting a chance. I’d definitely like to see Finn rested for these matches and probably a few others like Fagerson (Z), DVDM, Schoeman and to start moving on from Gilchrist and Gray (R) in the 2nd row. If Darcy is fit, give him the chance to play international rugby again having completely missed out on the 6N.

Looking at other countries, England, Ireland and Wales have two matches against respectively NZ, South Africa and Australia plus single matches against Japan and South Africa for the English and Welsh. How come we are only getting Tier 2 matches, we need to measure ourselves against Tier countries.


Canada v Scotland
TD Place Stadium, Ottawa
Saturday 6th July 2024
Kick-off: TBC

USA v Scotland
Audi Field, Washington DC
Friday 12th July 2024
Kick-off: TBC

Chile v Scotland
Estadio Nacional, Santiago
Saturday 20th July 2024
Kick-off: TBC

Uruguay v Scotland
Estadio Charrua, Montevideo
Saturday 27th July 2024
Kick-off: TBC

[Big D]

We chose to tour the smaller countries. Don't know why but apparently its partly our choice.

It's a strange one as the players we likely want to rest (Finn due paternity break around June IIRC) are those that might be away with the Lions next summer meaning two summers without being involved with the national team. Summer is often the longest coaches will get with the squad.

Second row is an area we need to get youth in.

[Cameo]

I think it is only partly our choice. I thought Townsend was keen to tour the big 3.

Agree re second row. I think chuck in some youngsters and see. Williamson seems the big hope just now but there are a few. Don't know if Henderson will be fit?

In th3 backs, could be a good chance for Dobie, McDowall, Rowe, Paterson and a few others.

I'd be inclined to leave Darcy Graham at home and let him have a full pre season.

[septic 9]

a word of caution. This tour is I agree a chance to rest a few key players, blood some others

But it also fraught with danger should we underestimate the opposition.

Canada are shite.
USA much better but still very poor, but last time we toured there did we not lose?
The 2 south Americans are capable sides as per RWC. (and ditto Portugal in the AIs)

No chance to gain RWC ranking points, plenty of opportnities to lose a few. In the run up to the next RWC pool draw. We really could do without another pool with the top 2 teams in it as well as us

[switchskier]

I actually like doing an America's tour and resting some key players. If we didn't then our best players would (hopefully) not have a full summer off until 2026 and then it would be launching into prep for RWC 2027.

While septic is right, we should be able to put out a pack that can at least gain parity with those teams and that's where I'd want to rest most players and generate more competition. I also think that we should be thinking positively about having rested players for the AIs and having a fully firing team aiming to get more points.

In terms of players I'd be fine with the entire front five being given the summer off. We need for depth and should be looking at:

- Ashman at hooker and two of Walker/Sebastian/Rae/Millar-Mills. I'd also be keen for one of Harrison or Hiddlestone to get some exposure. Someone needs to step up at loose head.

- rest Gilchrist and Gray and let Cummings hit next season fully fit. Young or Skinner are fine as experienced heads but let's look at two of Henderson/Sykes/Craig or jump straight to Samuel

- loads of options in the back row so rest Dempsey and Darge (who is already verging on crucial). I'd like to see Boyle involved - Edinburgh's approach to him frustrates me.

- Russell won't tour but I'm ok with Kinghorn being given a look and would like to see Thompson involved. Healy isn't there atm for me

- Leave DVDM at home: we need to be able to play without him occasionally. Want to see more of Patterson. Will Smith be fit?

[Mikey Brown]

See I agree with most of that, but Septic's point about the RWC rankings is valid. Yet again we come to the depth issue and the fact our vital, irreplaceable players make up at least half the team.

Ideally we'd rest the whole front 5, as well as 7-13, particularly for those of them with realistic Lions aspirations, but that's going to leave us with quite a vulnerable side. Maybe we'd take a more experienced squad and limit those guys to 2 games, but that still doesn't compare to having a summer of rest, both mentally and physically.

Even Darcy, despite not having played much, would arguably be better served in the long run getting a proper rest and pre-season.

Would we seriously go back to Kinghorn at 10? I've quite liked what I've seen from Healy to be honest, but that's not a whole lot. I've never seen much from Thompson to make me think he'll be a serious option at the top level, though I'd love to be proven wrong.

I'm not sure I can bring myself to see what that team looks like when typed out.

[switchskier]

RWC rankings are absolutely valid, but I'm procrastinating so I'm happy to bash out a team, with an emphasis on resting older jey players and particularly those playing outside of direct SRU control. Its a significant drop off, but you're looking for a pack that can provide some decent ball and then I think those backs could do damage against relatively untried teams:

1. Hislop (resting Schoeman)
2. Ashman (resting Turner)
3. Walker (resting Faegerson)
4. Henderson (resting Gray)
5. Skinner (resting Gilchrist)
6. Ritchie (resting Christie)
7. Watson/Boyle (resting Sarge)
8. Faegerson (resting Dempsey)
9. Horne (resting White)
10. Kinghorn (resting Russell)
11. Rowe (resting Duhan)
12. McDowall (resting Redpath and Tuipolotu)
13. Hutchinson (resting Jones)
14. Steyn (resting Graham)
15. Patterson

16. Hiddlestone/Harrisson
17. ?
18. Sebastian/Rae
19. Young/Sykes/Samuel
20. Brown/Bayliss/Watson
21. Dobie/Velacott
22. Thompson/Healy
23. Smith/Currie/Bennett

[septic 9]

@switchskier

fun team, just a few issues.
Hislop, Hnederson,Brown and Smith are all long term injured, no idea when any will be fit.
Walker is yet again injured, no idea if its short or long term but TBH I'm close to giving up on him.
Young and Vellcaott are not and never will be good enough, sorry.
Redpath needs to travel, needs to prove he is worth his national place. Had a brilliant debut match, then some nice cameos but not done enough to cement a place, and some poor defensive stuff

I would not say the 4 opponents are untried, the 2 south americans we saw at the RWC are proven and pretty good. The other 2 will improve, we dont now where they will be at this summer TBF

Others you should consider if you want to focus on players who have every chance of being multi international players are Muncaster, Williamson, Ferrie and Afshar

[switchskier]

@switchskier

fun team, just a few issues.
Hislop, Hnederson,Brown and Smith are all long term injured, no idea when any will be fit.
Walker is yet again injured, no idea if its short or long term but TBH I'm close to giving up on him.
Young and Vellcaott are not and never will be good enough, sorry.
Redpath needs to travel, needs to prove he is worth his national place. Had a brilliant debut match, then some nice cameos but not done enough to cement a place, and some poor defensive stuff

I would not say the 4 opponents are untried, the 2 south americans we saw at the RWC are proven and pretty good. The other 2 will improve, we dont now where they will be at this summer TBF

Others you should consider if you want to focus on players who have every chance of being multi international players are Muncaster, Williamson, Ferrie and Afshar

RWC will have been 9 months ago by then however. They're competitive but I think that the team above matches up well enough to take a calculated gamble that we should still win while blooding some players. It'll never happen of course.

I have in my head that Henderson and Smith should be back but no idea why (I evidently didn't bother to check). Forgot about Hislop and wasn't aware of Brown - he's had no luck.

I really like Muncaster but he needs to play. There's been chat about a foot injury but nothing definitive. I picked Samuel over Williamson but would be happy to see either.

I agree on Young, but he's a steady pair of hands that would start for the teams that we'll be facing. I can see a role for Vellacott as a game breaking change of pace - Afshar still feels quite raw to me- but it's rapidly approaching last chance saloon.

[Cameo]

I'm happy with Kinghorn as in game backup 10 but I would prefer to see Hastings, Thompson, or Healy start there in the summer, probably in that order.

Will Crosbie still be out. He's someone who could do with the games but had some useful experience (arguably he is our first choice 6 based on the last couple of games where he has been fit!).

[Mikey Brown]

Tour schedule:
Saturday 6 July: Canada v Scotland, TD Place, Ottawa, kick-off: 10pm UK time, 5pm local time
Friday 12 July: USA v Scotland, Audi Field, Washington DC, kick-off: 11.30pm UK time, 6.30pm local time
Saturday 20 July: Chile v Scotland, Estadio Nacional, Santiago, kick-off: 8pm UK time. 3pm local time
Saturday 27 July: Uruguay v Scotland, Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, kick-off: 8pm UK time, 4pm local time

The new faces are Glasgow Warriors back-row Gregor Brown, Edinburgh hooker Patrick Harrison, Leicester Tigers prop Will Hurd, Oyannax and former Scotland Under-20s second-row Ewan Johnson, Glasgow Warriors loose-head Nathan McBeth, Northampton Saints hooker and former Scotland Under-20s captain Robbie Smith, Glasgow Warriors second-row Max Williamson, Edinburgh centre Matt Currie, Sale Sharks wing Arron Reed, and Sale Sharks scrum-half Gus Warr.

Townsend has also invited former Scotland Under-20s tight-head prop and Glasgow Warriors summer-signing Fin Richardson, Edinburgh second-row Rob Carmichael and Glasgow Warriors scrum-half Ben Afshar to join the squad for the South American stretch of the tour as “development players”.

Playing four matches – against Canada in Ottowa on 6th July, USA in Washington on 12th July, Chile in Santiago on 20th July and Uruguay in Montevideo on 27th July – the expedition has been officially named the Skyscanner Americas tour, in recognition of Scottish Rugby’s “new official travel technology partner”.

With senior figures such as Finn Russell, Blair Kinghorn, Ben White Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist and Jack Dempsey all being left at home after effectively playing back-to-back seasons before and after last Autumn’s World Cup, this was always going to be a squad containing new faces and fringe players with a point to prove. Three seasons out from the next World Cup, Townsend’s primary concern will be to return home with four wins from four games against tier two opposition, but he will also have an eye on beginning to put the foundations in place for Australia 2027.

There are some experienced heads who might have been expected to have a summer off included in the squad such as Glasgow Warriors centres Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones, Edinburgh loose-head Pierre Schoeman, Glasgow second-row Scott Cummings and back-rowers Jamie Ritchie, Matt Fagerson, Luke Crosbie and Rory Darge.

Dylan Richardson of the Sharks made his Scotland debut back in 2021 against Japan as back-rower but has since changed position to focus on hooker and recently lifted the Challenge Cup with the Sharks, coming off the bench in the final in London.

[Mikey Brown]

Scotland summer tour squad:
Loosehead props:
Nathan McBeth (Glasgow Warriors), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) and Rory Sutherland (Oyonnax Rugby).

Hookers:
Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh Rugby), Patrick Harrison (Edinburgh Rugby), Robbie Smith (Northampton Saints) and Dylan Richardson (The Sharks).

Tighthead props:
Will Hurd (Leicester Tigers), Elliot Millar-Mills (Northampton Saints), Javan Sebastian (Edinburgh Rugby) and Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors).

Second-rows:
Alex Craig (Scarlets), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors), Ewan Johnson (Oyonnax Rugby), Max Williamson (Glasgow Warriors) and Glen Young (Edinburgh Rugby).

Back-rows:
Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby), Gregor Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby), Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) and Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby).

Scrum-half:
Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors), George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) and Gus Warr (Sale Sharks).

Stand-off:
Adam Hastings (Gloucester Rugby), Ben Healy (Edinburgh Rugby) and Ross Thompson (Glasgow Warriors).

Centres:
Matt Currie (Edinburgh Rugby), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors) and Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors).

Back-three:
Harry Paterson (Edinburgh Rugby), Arron Reed (Sale Sharks), Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Warriors), Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) and Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby).

[Mikey Brown]

I'm not really sure what to make of that. It's a bit hard to get excited about this.

It's hard to know how to make the most of these games or what amount of experimentation is useful before it's just an A team .

[BaldiePete]

Looseheads look OK, Hookers are very light on experience, with Ashman the obvious front-runner and tightheads are worrying. Are any of them first choice for their clubs?

2nd row looks OK, given that we have to move on from Gilchrist and R. Gray. Back row looks strong and there are plenty of good combinations in the backs but please GT, when Healy plays don’t let him play Edinburgh tactics. Given the excellent talent outside him, that would be criminal.

It looks like DVDM will overtake Hogg for the Scottish try scoring record in the tour. He’s on 26 and Hogg has 27.

[Mikey Brown]

Interesting that Richardson is now a full time hooker. I think he was/is quite highly rated in SA but has had a lot of injury issues. Hopefully that’s behind him now, but obviously has to be able to do the nuts and bolts set-piece stuff.

He’s one player who could add a bit of the grit and physicality we’ll presumably lose with Turner gone.
Though yet another bloody poaching Scots McSaffa yadda yadda yadda selection.

Would Ferrie have been expected to make this squad? There’s a couple of lock/back-row options in here I don’t know too much about, and I’ve never been particularly convinced by Young or Craig.

[septic 9]

Interesting that Richardson is now a full time hooker. I think he was/is quite highly rated in SA but has had a lot of injury issues. Hopefully that’s behind him now, but obviously has to be able to do the nuts and bolts set-piece stuff.

He’s one player who could add a bit of the grit and physicality we’ll presumably lose with Turner gone.
Though yet another bloody poaching Scots McSaffa yadda yadda yadda selection.

Would Ferrie have been expected to make this squad? There’s a couple of lock/back-row options in here I don’t know too much about, and I’ve never been particularly convinced by Young or Craig.

Craig was always a very good player - if he could stay fit. Played really well for Scarlets this season, player of the year I think. Young makes the odd flash run which catches the eye but I don't think he is Scotland level.
Seems Gregor brown impressed by starting at lock for Glasgow in SA, may have been what gave him the edge over Ferrie who must have had a chance.
Not at all convinced by the hooking selection - best young option and the one who played most has been left at home

[Mikey Brown]

Anyone want to take a stab at a 23? Are Canada good in any particular area at the moment? I was under the impression they've been on the slide for a few years now. I'm assuming we should win every game comfortably, but I've made that mistake before.

My thinking would be to keep at least one or two established players in place, per unit, to see if they can lead a team of fresher faces. Ideally we could give everyone a go without constantly rotating the full team out between games but I'm not sure exactly what that would look like.

[Puja]

Anyone want to take a stab at a 23? Are Canada good in any particular area at the moment? I was under the impression they've been on the slide for a few years now. I'm assuming we should win every game comfortably, but I've made that mistake before.

My thinking would be to keep at least one or two established players in place, per unit, to see if they can lead a team of fresher faces. Ideally we could give everyone a go without constantly rotating the full team out between games but I'm not sure exactly what that would look like.

Canada won't prove any kind of difficulty to you whatsoever. Even with a shadow side, you should be winning comfortably - there's no kind of threat there.

USA will be more trouble, but you should still be doing okay. Uruguay and Chile will be the big challenge and I think they'll possibly take your 2nd XV if you're off the game. Depends if they have all of their big names available.

Puja

[septic 9]

Anyone want to take a stab at a 23? Are Canada good in any particular area at the moment? I was under the impression they've been on the slide for a few years now. I'm assuming we should win every game comfortably, but I've made that mistake before.

My thinking would be to keep at least one or two established players in place, per unit, to see if they can lead a team of fresher faces. Ideally we could give everyone a go without constantly rotating the full team out between games but I'm not sure exactly what that would look like.

would agree with Puja.

Canada haven't shown anything to suggest they are back to where they where a decade ago. Quick look at their "roster" for the national team suggest no-one playing outside North America, and not all of those even in Major League Rugby. So playing much lower level then our guys.
They have an excellent CEO now, who has appointed Stephen Aboud as their high performance director. he is they guy who set up the Irish and Italian academy systems. But even if he can repeat that it will take a few years.
Unfortunately Bombrys has re-appointed their head coach, Kingsley Jones, who frankly is clueless and way beyond his pay grade. While he is there I can't see Canada make much progress

USA will have a point to prove having failed to make RWC 2023, and both Chile and Uruguay are decent if allowed to play

[Mikey Brown]

Didn’t even realise the team had been named.

Good for some of these guys to get a start, but hard to get too excited about this one.



What’s the deal with Dobie on the wing? I thought that was just a Glasgow/Smith quirk. Especially with two actual wingers on the bench it seems a bit pointless.

[Which Tyler]

Good luck Josh - go well

[Cameo]

Townsend says that he still sees Dobie as a 9 but, rightly, he's impressed that he has become more than an emergency winger (and has got good at stepping in at 9 to speed things up) I think it is probably a mixture of squad management and seeing how exploring options for bench makeup in the future.

[switchskier]

Looking at the Canada team this is the right approach and they should still win handily. Interested but pleased to see Thompson ahead of Healy and that the majority of the Glasgow team have been given a week off.

Biggest wtf moment is questioning why Faegetson is on the bench?

[Mikey Brown]

Maybe just a good option to cover all bases without much intention of giving him many minutes? Who knows how GT’s mind works. Maybe Fagerson is raring to go.

[septic 9]

Looking at the Canada team this is the right approach and they should still win handily. Interested but pleased to see Thompson ahead of Healy and that the majority of the Glasgow team have been given a week off.

Biggest wtf moment is questioning why Faegetson is on the bench?

Not certain but if not Fagerson it would need to be Darge, think they are the only touring back row options apart form the starters. That said I suppose he could have used Richardson as cover for openside

Anyways I rarely predict scores but a 30-40pt win would be no surprise