Kiwi to play against All Blacks in November Test Series   24 Oct 2014

Scotland coach Vern Cotter clears out old guard and makes Grant Gilchrist captain for November Test series

No place for Barclay, Brown, Evans, Hamilton, Horne, Kellock and MacArthur in new-look squad to face Argentina, New Zealand and Tonga

Vern Cotter, the Scotland head coach, has made an emphatic statement of intent by ditching a number of established international players for the November Test series.

The Scots face Argentina, New Zealand and Tonga on consecutive weekends, and Cotter has decided that they will do so without the Saracens forwards Jim Hamilton and Kelly Brown, the Scarlets flanker John Barclay, the Castres winger Max Evans and the Glasgow trio Pat MacArthur, Peter Horne and Al Kellock.  Along with Kiwi Sean Maitland.

All would have been close to automatic selections for Scotland squads in the recent past but Cotter, who took charge of Scotland’s four-match summer tour but had little say in the selection, clearly has different ideas. Kellock, Brown, Hamilton and Evans are older than 30 but not so far into their dotages to be dismissed as candidates for the World Cup next year.

Perhaps the biggest loser is Barclay. The former Glasgow flanker has been in outstanding form for his club this season, and his try-scoring contribution to Scarlets’ defiant, if ultimately unsuccessful, display against Toulon on Sunday was widely interpreted as the performance that would propel him back into international contention.

Instead, Cotter has preferred the claims of Glasgow’s Chris Fusaro and London Irish’s Blair Cowan as openside flankers. Throughout the pack, mobility rather than muscle appears to be the more valued attribute, although Barclay is not exactly a slouch.

“All they can do is prepare themselves as best as possible if we do get an injury. You never know. When they get the call-up they will have to play particularly well and put pressure on to make sure of selection next time.”

The Scots face Argentina on Saturday, Nov 8, and New Zealand one week later, both at Murrayfield. They conclude their autumn programme against Tonga at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park on Nov 22.

Cotter has named Grant Gilchrist, the Edinburgh lock, as captain. He led the Scots to victory against Argentina and to defeat against the Springboks on the summer tour. The ditching of Brown and Kellock has denuded the squad of two other captaincy candidates, but Cotter’s choice of Gilchrist ahead of Greig Laidlaw and Ross Ford, both former captains who are still in the squad, is a powerful statement of faith in the 24-year-old. “I think leaders are born,” the coach said. “He is a born leader.”

It is just as much a feather in Gilchrist’s cap that he has been chosen as captain while playing in such a fiercely contested position. Seven players have been used in the Scotland second row over the past 12 months, and Cotter would not have opted for Gilchrist if he believed his place in the team was in doubt. Andy Robinson made that mistake in 2011, when he chose Kellock to lead the team but then dropped him ahead of a critical match against Argentina.

Not that Gilchrist himself is taking anything for granted. “I’ve said all along that there is a lot of competition in my position,” he said.

“I was just trying to do everything to get in the team, and that won’t change. I’ll play as best I can this weekend and in the build-up to the Tests to make sure that will happen.

“I don’t think you grow up thinking you’ll be captain, it’s just something you naturally put your hand up to do. You do things in the game, take the lead in training, make sure the team are headed in the right direction. It’s not something that you have in your head, it’s just something you do.”

Mark Bennett, the Glasgow centre who scored two tries against Bath at the weekend, is the only uncapped player in the squad. However, Cotter has invited another three – Glasgow’s Zander Fagerson and Edinburgh’s Hamish Watson and Alan Dell – to attend training.

Scotland could face Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams after the duo were recalled to the New Zealand squad for their forthcoming northern hemisphere tour, which begins when they take on the USA in Chicago on Nov 1.

Scotland squad: Forwards A Ashe (Glasgow), J Beattie (Castres), F Brown (Glasgow), B Cowan, G Cross (both London Irish), A Dickinson, R Ford (both Edinburgh), C Fusaro (Glasgow Warriors), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh, captain), R Harley, J Gray (both Glasgow Warriors), R Gray (Castres), S Lawson (Newcastle), K Low (London Irish), E Murray, G Reid (both Glasgow) A Strokosch (Perpignan), T Swinson (Glasgow). Backs M Bennett (Glasgow), C Cusiter (Sale), A Dunbar (Glasgow), D Fife, T Heathcote (both Edinburgh), S Hogg (Glasgow), G Laidlaw (Gloucester), S Lamont, S Maitland, F Russell, H Pyrgos, T Seymour (all Glasgow), D Taylor (Saracens), T Visser (Edinburgh), D Weir (Glasgow).

New Zealand tour squad: Forwards Dane Coles, Nathan Harris, Keven Mealamu, Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Ben Franks, Owen Franks, Joe Moody, Brodie Retallick, Luke Romano, Jeremy Thrush, Patrick Tuipulotu, Sam Whitelock, Sam Cane, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw (capt), Liam Messam, Kieran Read, Victor Vito. Backs TJ Perenara, Augustine Pulu, Aaron Smith, Beauden Barrett, Dan Carter, Aaron Cruden, Ryan Crotty, Conrad Smith, Malakai Fekitoa, Sonny Bill Williams, Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Charles Piutau, Julian Savea, Ben Smith.

Source The Telegraph

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