Scotland Rugby head coach Gregor Townsend today announced his initial World Cup training squad, on the same day that it was revealed he had accepted a contract extension that will see him continue as Scotland coach until April 2026.
For this year’s Rugby World Cup in France, Townsend has announced an initial squad of 41 players, which will later be trimmed down to a 33-player list.
The team will again be captained by Jamie Ritchie, with Rory Darge and Darcy Graham returning to the squad after missing out on the Guinness Six Nations due to injury.
Darge in particular will add some pressure on Ritchie in an already crowded back row unit, but Jonny Gray looks set to miss the tournament after a nasty knee injury.
The squad includes 23 forwards and 18 backs, with only two uncapped players – lock Cameron Henderson and centre Stafford McDowall.
Four players – WP Nel, Grant Gilchrist, Finn Russell, and Stuart Hogg – aim to represent Scotland at their third Rugby World Cup, having featured in 2015 and 2019. Notable omissions from this squad – which has no hard and fast limit on size unlike the final version that will travel to France – include Rory Hutchinson and the in-form Glasgow hooker Johnny Matthews.
The team will begin preparations with an initial training camp on 29 May, followed by warm-up matches against France, Italy, and Georgia at BT Murrayfield in July and August, and an away warm-up against France in St. Etienne.
Scotland will compete in Pool B of the game’s biggest tournament against South Africa, Ireland, Tonga, and Romania, with their first match against the world champions, South Africa, on 10 September in Marseille.
Scotland training squad for Rugby World Cup 2023
Forwards (23)
Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks) 7 caps
Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) 28 caps
Dave Cherry (Edinburgh Rugby) 8 caps
Andy Christie (Saracens) 4 caps
Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) 4 caps
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 25 caps
Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors) 7 caps
Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) 9 caps
Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 33 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 58 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) 62 caps
Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 73 caps
Cameron Henderson (Leicester Tigers) uncapped
Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) 47 caps
WP Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) 54 caps
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby) – CAPTAIN – 41 caps
Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 21 caps
Javan Sebastian (Scarlets) 3 caps
Sam Skinner (Edinburgh Rugby) 25 caps
Rory Sutherland (Ulster Rugby) 23 caps
George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 35 caps
Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors) 2 caps
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) 57 caps
Backs (18)
Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors) 1 cap
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) 33 caps
Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby) 42 caps
Adam Hastings (Gloucester Rugby) 27 caps
Ben Healy (Munster Rugby) 1 caps
Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) 100 caps
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 20 caps
Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) 36 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 43 caps
Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) 61 caps
Cameron Redpath (Bath Rugby) 5 caps
Finn Russell (Racing 92) 69 caps
Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 10 caps
Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 16 caps
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 28 caps
Ben White (London Irish) 14 caps