Uncapped Newcastle Red Bulls back row Ollie Leatherbarrow has been called up by Scotland for the first time for the three home Nations Championship fixtures. But in-form Edinburgh forwards Magnus Bradbury and Freddy Douglas are surprising omissions from the 37-strong squad. Macclesfield-born Leatherbarrow qualifies for Scotland because of his grandmother being from Perth and has already represented Scotland at under-16 and under-20 levels.
The 24-year-old began his career at Exeter Chiefs before moving to Newcastle in 2023. Senior trio Jamie Ritchie, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe have all been included after returning recently from injuries. Glasgow Warriors' Seb Stephen, who made his debut in July's Nations Championship match against Fiji, is one of three hookers selected by head coach Gregor Townsend.
Influential back-rower Jack Dempsey has retained his place despite leaving Glasgow in the summer to move to Japan with Toshiba Brave Lupus. Experienced lock Gilchrist recently returned from injury, while club-mate Hector Patterson had been touted for potential involvement after a bright start to the season, but the scrum-half has not made the cut. Scotland host the All Blacks on 7 November, the Wallabies on 15 November and the Brave Blossoms on 21 November at Murrayfield before the new Nations Championship concludes the following weekend at Twickenham, based around final hemisphere positions.
The finals are on the weekend of 28-29 November, with fixtures determined by the placings of northern and southern hemisphere countries across these games and the ones played in July.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing