Scotland A Selections Offer Glimpses into Townsend’s Squad for Wallabies Encounter

Head coach Pete Horne has announced the Scotland A squad set to compete against Chile this Saturday at Hive Stadium. Stafford McDowall will serve as captain for the team, which features 12 international players. Freddy Douglas, who last weekend became Scotland’s youngest male Test player since 1963 after coming off the bench against Portugal, has been named in the back row. He will play alongside Ben Muncaster, who also made his Test debut last Saturday. Stafford McDowall, who captained his country and scored in the recent victory against Portugal, is set to lead the Scotland A team this weekend. His involvement with the A squad suggests he is highly unlikely to feature for the senior national team against Australia on Sunday. Consequently, several players who might have been vying for a spot against the Wallabies will instead be part of the A team lineup. Mosese Tuipulotu, the younger brother of Scotland captain Sione, is scheduled to make his inaugural appearance in Scotland colours at any level, following his signing with Edinburgh during the summer. Jamie Bhatti, who registered his first try for Scotland against Portugal, will start in the front row at Hive Stadium, joined by Gregor Hiddleston and D’Arcy Rae. Marshall Sykes and Ewan Johnson, from Oyannax, are named as the locks, while vice-captain Tom Dodd fills the remaining spot in the back row. Jamie Dobie, who many observers anticipated would serve as the replacement scrum-half at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on Sunday, is named to start at number 9 and holds a vice-captaincy role. This selection implies that Gregor Townsend is likely to choose either Ali Price or George Horne as the reserve scrum-half behind Ben White for the match against Australia. Ross Thompson is positioned at number 10, and Arron Reed will start at full-back, having scored two tries against Portugal during his home international debut. Ross McCann and Matt Currie complete the back three. The full Scotland A squad is listed as: Reed, Currie, Tuipulotu, McDowall, McCann, Thompson, Dobie; Bhatti, Hiddleston, Rae, Sykes, Johnson, Dodd, Douglas, Muncaster. Replacements include: Morris, Jones, Richardson, Oguntibeju, McConnell, Afshar, Healy, Brown.