Horne Commends Scotland A Players’ “Brilliant” Reaction to Wallabies Squad Omission

Head coach Pete Horne has stated that the international players selected for Scotland A’s match against Chile on Saturday have responded “brilliantly,” despite being excluded from the senior national team’s fixture against Australia on Sunday. Glasgow’s Jamie Dobie is among those named to play for Scotland A. Players including Stafford McDowall, Jamie Dobie, and Jamie Bhatti were considered for selection to face the Wallabies in Scotland’s final game of the Autumn Nations Series. However, they will instead compete for the secondary national side at Hive Stadium the day before. Horne conveyed to the BBC’s Scotland Rugby Podcast that “Those three especially will have been desperate to be involved against Australia.” He added, “It wouldn’t be right if they weren’t. They’ve got every right to be disappointed that they’re getting ready to play against Chile, but then we just flipped it on how we use that as an opportunity.” He further elaborated on the potential for the players, stating, “These guys have got a chance to show the coach, he’s made a mistake, actually we should have been playing on Sunday.” Horne emphasized the long-term implications, remarking, “So if you leave a lasting impression on Saturday there’s a chance that come Six Nations, 100% we will still be talking about how guys performed in this match.” While Saturday’s game is expected to serve as a preliminary event for the main fixture at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on Sunday, Horne has urged his team to deliver a performance that generates significant discussion. Horne, who is fulfilling both his head coach role for Scotland A and assisting Gregor Townsend with the full Scotland squad this autumn, commented, “I think any time the A team are playing, it’s normally always a really good home crowd.” He continued, “It’s a little bit more personal, isn’t it? A little bit closer to the action. It’d be brilliant if we can all turn up and get a really good crowd for them.” He concluded by encouraging his team to surpass expectations: “Just because we’re the support act this weekend, there’s no reason that we can’t steal the show and have everyone talking about our game and our performance. That’s what we’re selling to the boys.”