Gray and Hogg named in Scotland squad

By Mark Stevens
19/10/22

Exeter Chiefs duo Jonny Gray and Stuart Hogg have both been named in Scotland's 40-strong training squad for the Autumn Nations Series ahead of the matches against Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina at BT Murrayfield.

Full-back Hogg returns to the international fold having sat out the summer Test series to Argentina following an operation on his knee, but he does not resume the role of captain, which has been given to Edinburgh Rugby flanker Jamie Ritchie.

Explaining the decision, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said: "For Stuart, who's been a very good captain for us over the last three seasons and led us to some great victories, we see this as an opportunity for him to play his best rugby and focus on that.

"We believe he's our best player and that's what we want to get him to be over the next 12 months. As you can imagine, he cares so much about leading Scotland, he was disappointed. But he's got behind the team and Jamie. And he's viewing it as much as a positive as possible to make sure he can focus on playing his best rugby, which is the aim.

"We see a lot of captain and leadership qualities in Jamie, we have for a while. He missed out on the chance on the summer tour to get that opportunity, but he's had it with Edinburgh at the start of the season. We seem him growing into the role and being an excellent leader."

In the forwards, Ritchie is joined by new call-up Jack Dempsey. The 28-year-old Glasgow Warriors No.8r 8 qualifies for Scotland through his Scottish grandfather. Having previously played 14 matches for Australia, Dempsey has made himself available to play for Scotland under World Rugby’s birthright transfer rules which allows a capped player to switch allegiance to another country they are eligible to play for following a three-year cooling off period.

Fellow Warriors forward Richie Gray has also been called up where he will look to add to his 67 caps with the last of those arriving in the 2021 Guinness Six Nations.

Edinburgh Rugby duo WP Nel and Nick Haining have returned to the squad having featured in this year’s Guinness Six Nations but having missed out on selection for the summer tour.

In the backs, Gloucester Rugby’s Chris Harris and Adam Hastings are included after the latter was ruled out of the tour to Argentina through injury at the last minute, while Bath's Cameron Redpath also returns. Stafford McDowall is the only uncapped player in the backs and earns his call-up after impressing at Glasgow Warriors.

SCOTLAND AUTUMN NATIONS SERIES SQUAD

FORWARDS

Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks) 4 caps
Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby) 3 caps
Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) 22 caps
Dave Cherry (Edinburgh Rugby) 7 caps
Andy Christie (Saracens) 3 caps
Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) 2 caps
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 23 caps
Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 24 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 50 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) 55 caps
Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) 69 caps
Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 67 caps
Nick Haining (Edinburgh Rugby) 11 caps
WP Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) 48 caps
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby, capt) 32 caps
Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 12 caps
Sam Skinner (Edinburgh Rugby) 22 caps
Rory Sutherland (Ulster Rugby) 20 caps
George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 27 caps
Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) 51 caps

BACKS

Mark Bennett (Edinburgh Rugby) 27 caps
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) 29 caps
Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby) 36 caps
Adam Hastings (Gloucester Rugby) 26 caps
Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) 93 caps
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 17 caps
Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby) 4 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 34 caps
Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Rufus McLean (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) 54 caps
Cameron Redpath (Bath Rugby) 2 caps
Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) 1 cap
Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 5 caps
Ross Thompson (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 7 caps
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 19 caps
Ben White (London Irish) 6 caps

Autumn Nations Series 2022 Fixtures

Scotland v Australia, Saturday 29 October, kick-off 5.30pm, BT Murrayfield

Scotland v Fiji, Saturday 5 November, kick-off 1pm, BT Murrayfield

Scotland v New Zealand, Sunday 13 November, kick-off 2.15pm, BT Murrayfield

Scotland v Argentina, Saturday 19 November, kick-off 3.15pm, BT Murrayfield