So that’s Scotland in Ottawa to prepare for their game against Canada. It’s the opening fixture of a four game development tour and in the first year after a World Cup that’s exactly what it should be. Give the young players and those on the fringes a chance.
Even with an under-strength team expect an easy Scotland win next weekend as Canada are so poor they didn’t even make the 2023 World Cup.
The last time they played Scotland was in 2018 when they lost 48-10 in Edmonton. They are way down in 21st place in the world rankings compared to Scotland who are up in sixth. Only complacency can lead to a Scotland defeat.
This may be the tour for newcomers and fringe players to shine but I can’t see many of the ten uncapped players or those with only a handful of international matches under their belt making much of an impression.
The one man who can play himself into contention for the November Test matches at Murrayfield against Fiji, South Africa, Portugal and Australia is flanker-turned-hooker Dylan Richardson who plays for the Sharks in South Africa. He uses the name Thor on his own social media sites and whether he turns into a Scottish god on the rugby field is in his hands.
It is Richardson’s versatility to feel comfortable at hooker and flanker –previous Scotland hookers Fraser Brown and Stuart McInally played in both positions for Scotland – that could see him build on the single cap he currently has.
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Born in South Africa and with a Scottish father, he made his debut when he came off the bench at Murrayfield against Japan in November 2021. He played at openside flanker that day but more recently he has been excellent at hooker for the Sharks.
He still fills in when needed in the back row for his team and his versatility showed when he came off the bench for flanker James Venter when the Sharks beat Gloucester 36-22 to win the European Challenge Cup final at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium back in May.
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There is definitely a vacancy at hooker with Scotland because with George Turner unavailable after moving to Japan and with Brown retired and David Cherry falling out of favour Scotland desperately need someone to challenge Ewan Ashman.
Although I have heard a lot of good things about former Scotland ynder-20 captain Robbie Smith at Northampton Saints and Patrick Harrison of Edinburgh, both of whom are also touring with the Scots, it is Richardson who can make his mark on this tour.
Having a man who can start at hooker but could move to the back row if needs must is a great option for Gregor Townsend to have.
The props also have a good chance of making a breakthrough if only because we struggle to find enough good ones.
I am sure some Scotland fans will remember Edinburgh loosehead prop Darryl Marfo who, with the best will in the world, should have been nowhere near international selection but due to an injury crisis found himself called up for the three autumn Test matches in 2017.
To be fair he played well in them all but never won another international cap.
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Out of the touring props Will Hurd of Leicester Tigers who plays on the tighthead side has really potential. He was included in Townsend’s squad for the last Six Nations but was ruled out through injury but has earned another call-up.
It will be interesting to see if he can overtake Javan Sebastian, Elliot Millar Mills and Murphy Walker to be understudy to Zander Fagerson for the autumn Tests.
On the loosehead side Rory Sutherland and Jamie Bhatti tour along with the uncapped Nathan McBeth of Glasgow Warriors so Scotland is well served on that side of the front row.
This four-match Scotland tour begins against a background of Andy Farrell starting the countdown to the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia by announcing he will step down as Ireland coach and take up his role with the Lions on December 1.
He said he won’t be with the Ireland team in the next Six Nations as he wants to concentrate on trying to take a dispassionate view on the performances of the Scottish, English, Irish and Welsh players in the tournament.
Farrell will make his selection decisions not on the autumn Tests or the URC form of Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors but on the next Six Nations that finishes in the middle of March. The Lions first fixture is a warm-up game against Argentina in Dublin in the middle of June before they fly to Australia for the three Test series.
As Farrell’s starting date was announced there was a point made by British and Irish Lions chief executive Ben Calveley that will make Scotland fans chuckle. He said Farrell was under no obligation to pick from all four nations for the Lions squad.
That hasn’t been the case up until now and there was always an unwritten rule that whoever was Lions coach selected players from all four eligible nations. “Selection will be merit-based,’’ said Calveley. “Things like quotas would not be in line with that mentality.”
So what country will be struggling to get just a few, if any, players in the Lions squad? That’ll be Wales under Warren Gatland. As things stand I might, just might, take Jac Morgan, Tomos Williams and Dewi Lake but that would be my lot of Welshman if I were Farrell.
Revenge is a dish best served cold and Scottish rugby fans will feel a lack of Welsh players in the next Lions squad on Gatland’s watch will be rugby karma. Many felt he had to be dragged kicking and screaming to picks Scots on the 2013 and 2017 Lions tours and only did it because he had to because of that unwritten rule to pick players from every country.
That didn’t stretch to his coaching staff and it was only on his third and final tour in charge in 2021 that he brought Scots into his backroom team.
There were only three Scots -Sean Maitland and Richie Gray initially and Ryan Grant drafted in as injury cover - in his 37-man squad that beat Australia in 2011. Four years later there were initially only two - Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg - with Finn Russell and Alan Dell among six players called up near the end of the tour to New Zealand. That ended in one victory for the All Blacks, one for the Lions with the final Test drawn.
Only when Gatland had Gregor Townsend and Steve Tandy as part of his backroom staff in 2021 did Scotland get a fair representation. Having the Scotland head coach and his defence coach in the selection meetings made a difference.
Eight players – Zander Fagerson, Rory Sutherland, Hamish Watson, Ali Price, Finn Russell, Chris Harris, Duhan van der Merwe and Stuart Hogg- were part of the 37-strong squad that lost the series 2-1 in South Africa that was played behind closed doors because of Covid.
Yet again it was still the lowest number of players from an individual nation but at least there were also only eight from Ireland as well. There were eleven from England and ten from Wales.
When it comes to Lions selection there are six Scotland players that are already stick-ons, injury permitting. Blair Kinghorn and Zander Fagerson along with Russell have been given the summer off by Scotland to prepare for a long hard season ahead that will culminate in the Lions tour.
Duhan van der Merwe has had plenty of time off after Edinburgh failed to make the play-offs and will tour with Scotland this summer along with other Lions certainties Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu and Rory Darge.
The Glasgow Warriors pair of Kyle Steyn and Jack Dempsey are my dark horses for Lions selection and it could come down to a straight fight between Ben White and George Horne for one of the scrum-half spots.
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