All the numbers behind Scotland's Autumn Nations Series squad

A game against a Fiji team missing most of their superstars, a first meeting with Portugal outwith an RWC and an outing for an ‘A’ side versus Chile should meet the need for continuing development.

Encounters with Australia and especially South Africa will let the first choice XV stretch their legs a couple of times before the really serious business of the Six Nations kicks off early next year.

Here is how Scotland’s squad has changed compared to the initial group picked ahead of the summer tour.

The changes to the Scotland squad from the summer tour (Image: Kevin Millar) Ross McCann was a late call-up to the squad during the summer but has not been included this time round.

Caps

• Five players have been selected in the squad of 45 who have yet to be capped by Scotland [summer tour squad – 10 out of 37]
• Uncapped forwards – Freddy Douglas, Ben Muncaster, Alex Samuel
• Uncapped backs – Tom Jordan, Mosese Tuipulotu
• Since Gregor Townsend became head coach following the 2017 Six Nations there have been 74 debuts for the men’s national side
• There are six in the squad who made their first Scotland appearances prior to Townsend taking over [summer tour squad – two]. Five of these were under Vern Cotter (Zander Fagerson, Huw Jones, Ali Price, Finn Russell and Rory Sutherland) and one during Scott Johnson’s tenure (Grant Gilchrist)
• Another 18 men have been picked who have won fewer than 10 caps each [summer tour squad – 14]
• There are seven players in the squad with more than 50 Scotland caps to their name [summer tour squad – none, although both Jamie Ritchie and Huw Jones reached their half centuries during the tour]. Finn Russell (80) has the most caps. Matt Fagerson (47) could hit a half century over the next few weeks.

Matt Fagerson could win his 50th cap this autumn (Image: SNS)

Player numbers and game time

· There are four players involved who have not previously been selected in a full Scotland squad. The total number of players included in Scotland men’s Test squads during the Townsend era is 152.

· The coaches have picked 19 Glasgow Warriors, 15 Edinburgh players and 11 Exiles [Summer Tour squad – 15 Glasgow, 11 Edinburgh, 11 Exiles].

· There were 11 debuts during the tour of the Americas, meaning that 123 different players have seen game time in Scotland’s Tests since summer 2017.

· No one has featured in all 83 matches since the start of the Townsend era. Ali Price (62) has made the most appearances.

Age

• The average age of the squad is 27.0 [summer tour squad – 26.4]
• The backs’ average age is 27.3 while for the forwards it is 26.9 [summer tour squad – 26.4 for backs and 26.5 for forwards]
• There are nine players currently over the age of 30. Grant Gilchrist is the elder statesman having turned 34 in August [summer tour squad – five over 30s]

Grant Gilchrist is the oldest player in the squad (Image: SNS)

• There are 29 players who will be 30 or younger when the 2027 Rugby World Cup kicks off [summer tour squad – 26], including 12 players born in the 2000s [Summer Tour squad – eight].
• Freddy Douglas is – by some distance – the youngest in the squad. He was born in May 2005

Scoring

• The squad have combined for 159 Test tries.
• 38 have been scored by forwards, 121 by the backs.
• Duhan van der Merwe is the leading try scorer in the history of the men’s national side, crossing 28 times for Scotland so far. 
• Among the forwards selected, Ewan Ashman has the most tries with eight.

And Finally

• Here is a best guess (with the emphasis on the guess!) at how the depth chart for the current squad stands ahead of the Autumn Nations SeriesThe depth chart ahead of the Autumn Nations Series (Image: SNS)