Gregor Townsend has handed call-ups to two uncapped hookers and warned that Scotland face the hardest summer tour of his tenure, naming a 36-man squad for July's Nations Championship matches against Argentina, South Africa and Fiji.
Glasgow Warriors pair Gregor Hiddleston, 24, and Seb Stephen, 20, are the headline inclusions. Both have been capped at Under-20 level — Hiddleston also holds two Scotland A caps and Stephen featured for Emerging Scotland last year — but neither has played a senior Test. They come in partly because of a crunch at hooker: George Turner has an achilles problem, Dave Cherry a back complaint, and the versatile Jamie Ritchie is also unavailable.
Townsend left no doubt about the scale of the challenge ahead. "It is a much tougher tour than ever before, certainly in the time I've been coach," he said. "Not only with the travel, but the opposition. Three teams in the top eight in the world and one being the number one team in the world."
Scotland open against the Pumas in Cordoba on 4 July, then climb to altitude to meet the Springboks in Pretoria on 11 July before returning home to play Fiji at Murrayfield on 18 July. Townsend has picked an experienced core — Finn Russell again pulls the strings and Sione Tuipulotu continues as captain — and was clear about the balancing act. "We feel as strong a team as possible will give us the best chance of winning," he said. "But also we're going to get a lot of learning from these games to take into next season."
Not everyone made the trip. Blair Kinghorn and Grant Gilchrist have both been rested, decisions Townsend tied to the long-term picture rather than current form. Kinghorn is into another Top 14 semi-final with Toulouse, having gone a full year without an extended break. "We wanted him to have a bigger break this season, he didn't get that after the Lions tour last year," Townsend said.
The 35-year-old Gilchrist, a near ever-present in the Scotland side over the past two seasons, has been managed with one eye on the next World Cup. "We really want him to be playing his best rugby next year and get to a World Cup, that's the goal for him," Townsend explained. "We feel having a longer break this summer will help that."
There were quirks elsewhere. Back-rower Jack Dempsey keeps his place despite an imminent move to Japan, while British and Irish Lions centre Huw Jones — still building fitness — misses the opener and George Turner and Ritchie sit out injured. Liam McConnell, D'arcy Rae and Duhan van der Merwe will join the squad later after Barbarians duty against South Africa and Wales.
Scotland finished third in this year's Six Nations with three wins from five, and Townsend has framed the trip as much about exposure as results. With a World Cup on the horizon, the gamble on uncapped youth in the engine room — against three of the toughest sides on the planet — is one he is willing to take.
