Fifteen selected for Famous Grouse Nations Series

• 23 Oct 2024
• News

Fifteen Edinburgh Rugby players are named in Scotland’s 45-player group for the upcoming Famous Grouse Nations Series at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

Uncapped trio Ben Muncaster, Freddy Douglas and Mosese Tuipulotu are all selected as Scotland host Fiji, South Africa, Portugal and Australia next month.

Tighthead prop D’Arcy Rae is recalled to the national set-up after an impressive start to the campaign, while hooker Paddy Harrison gets the call after making his mark in recent home wins over DHL Stormers and Cardiff Rugby.

Matt Currie is one of six centres selected while Harry Paterson is included among the 19 backs picked after recovering from a foot injury that has kept him out of Edinburgh’s opening URC fixtures.

Tickets have now sold out for Scotland’s matches against Fiji, South Africa and Australia with more than 50,000 fans already securing their place for Scotland v Portugal on Saturday 16 November. Buy the remaining tickets here!

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said: “We’ve been encouraged by the early season performances of our players and are looking forward to working with them once again. We had some stand-out performers on our summer tour, who have earned their selections for the Autumn Test campaign.”

On the five uncapped players, he said: “We saw in the summer how much it meant to the players to win their first caps for their country. We have five players in this squad that will be hugely motivated to do the same.

“Alex Samuel was unlucky to miss out on the summer tour through injury as he would have very likely been out in the Americas with us. Tom Jordan is now qualified to play for us and has been playing consistently well for Glasgow for a while.

“Ben Muncaster has started the season with real intensity, making some big plays,  whether operating at openside or number eight. Mosese Tuipulotu has integrated himself really quickly to playing rugby in Scotland and we are seeing more and more of his ability as a passer and ball carrier.

“Although Freddy Douglas has yet to appear in the URC, what we’ve seen with his performances with Edinburgh A and Scotland Under-20s shows us that he has the skills and mindset that can thrive in our environment. Patrick Harrison is a perfect example of that. He had played well for Edinburgh A and showed that with belief, intent and effort – you can bring out your strengths at Test level.

Looking ahead to the upcoming four games, he said: “The Autumn is always an exciting time of year and the four matches in The Famous Grouse Nations Series all offer different challenges.

“Being back at home for four weeks will be an incredible experience for our players and the support we receive will make a massive difference.”

 The Famous Grouse Autumn Nations Series Squad (caps in brackets):

Forwards (26)

Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (19)
Josh Bayliss – Bath Rugby (7)
Jamie Bhatti – Glasgow Warriors (34)
Gregor Brown – Glasgow Warriors (3)
Scott Cummings – Glasgow Warriors (39)
Luke Crosbie – Edinburgh Rugby (11)
Alex Craig – Scarlets (4)
Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors (22) VICE-CAPTAIN
Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors (20)
Freddy Douglas – Edinburgh Rugby (uncapped)
Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (47)
Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (67)
Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby (72)
Patrick Harrison – Edinburgh Rugby (2)
Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (2)
Ewan Johnson – Oyonnax (3)
Nathan McBeth – Glasgow Warriors (2)
Elliot Millar Mills – Northampton Saints (5)
Ben Muncaster – Edinburgh Rugby (uncapped)
D’Arcy Rae – Edinburgh Rugby (1)
Dylan Richardson – The Sharks (3)
Jamie Ritchie – Edinburgh Rugby (51)
Alex Samuel – Glasgow Warriors (uncapped)
Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby (34)
Rory Sutherland – Glasgow Warriors (32)
Max Williamson – Glasgow Warriors (4)

Backs (19)

Matt Currie – Edinburgh Rugby (3)
Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors (6)
Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby (39)
Adam Hastings – Glasgow Warriors (30)
George Horne – Glasgow Warriors (32)
Rory Hutchinson – Northampton Saints (7)
Huw Jones – Glasgow Warriors (50)
Tom Jordan – Glasgow Warriors (uncapped)
Blair Kinghorn – Toulouse (53)
Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (5)
Harry Paterson – Edinburgh Rugby (3)
Ali Price – Edinburgh Rugby (67)
Arron Reed – Sale Sharks (2)
Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (7)
Finn Russell – Bath Rugby (80) VICE-CAPTAIN
Mosese Tuipulotu – Edinburgh Rugby (uncapped)
Sione Tuipulotu – Glasgow Warriors (27) CAPTAIN
Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby (41)
Ben White – Toulon (22)

Players ruled out through injury: Javan Sebastian, Murphy Walker, Robbie Smith, Cam Henderson, Sam Skinner, Andy Christie, Euan Ferrie, Cameron Redpath, Kyle Steyn and Ollie Smith.