Scotland autumn Test squad named: new captain, call-up for teenager, uncapped 5 and surprise omissions

Sione Tuipulotu has been named captain in a move away from the co-captaincy model favoured recently by head coach Gregor Townsend. Finn Russell and Rory Darge jointly held the role during last season’s Six Nations but they have both now been demoted to vice-captaincy.

Sione’s younger brother and fellow centre, Mosese Tuipulotu, is one of five uncapped players in the 45-man squad and wins his call-up on the back of a promising start to his career with Edinburgh whom he joined in the summer.

The other uncapped players in the squad are Glasgow Warriors’ Tom Jordan and Alex Samuel and Edinburgh’s Ben Muncaster and Freddy Douglas.

New Zealand-born Jordan, who can play stand-off or centre, is included after fulfilling the five-year residency requirement. He was an outstandingly consistent performer during Glasgow’s triumphant United Rugby Championship campaign.

Samuel, 21, broke through with Glasgow last season but the second-row forward missed the summer tour through injury.

The selection of teenager Douglas will raise eyebrows because the young back-row forward has yet to play for Edinburgh in the URC. However, his performances for Scotland Under-20s and Edinburgh’s second string A team have convinced Townsend the 19-year-old is ready for Test duties. Douglas, who came through at Stewart's Melville College in Edinburgh, was part of the Scotland U20 side that won the World Rugby U20 Trophy in the summer.

Muncaster, who also plays in the back row, is included after a strong start to the season with Edinburgh. He played for Scotland A against Chile back in 2022 but has not won a full cap.

Elsewhere, there are recalls for Ali Price, who has been in good form for Edinburgh, D’arcy Rae, who won his only previous cap against Ireland in 2019, and Rory Hutchinson, the Northampton Saints centre.

Price is one of four scrum-halves in the squad. The others are Glasgow pair Jamie Dobie and George Horne, and Toulon’s Ben White. There is no place for Sale’s Gus Warr who made his debut on the summer tour.

Rae, the Edinburgh tighthead prop, comes in from the cold and is likely to feature in the opening match against Fiji on November 2. Scotland will select only home-based players for the game.

The next match is against the world champions, South Africa, on November 10 and that is followed by games with Portugal on November 16 and Australia on November 24. All four are at Murrayfield.

Harry Paterson is in the squad despite not playing for Edinburgh’s first team this season due to injury. The full-back impressed on the summer tour of the Americas, as did his team-mate Matt Currie who is also included.

Surprisingly, there is no place for Glasgow’s Johnny Matthews, with Ewan Ashman, Dylan Richardson and Patrick Harrison named as the three hookers.

Adam Hastings joins Russell and Jordan as the squad stand-offs but Ross Thompson has been left out. Neither Richie Gray or Jonny Gray are included. Richie is set to move to Japan next month. Younger brother Jonny has been in fine form for Bordeaux after a long-term knee issue.

Centre Cameron Redpath and wing Kyle Steyn both miss out through injury as do Javan Sebastian, Murphy Walker, Robbie Smith, Cam Henderson, Sam Skinner, Andy Christie, Euan Ferrie and Ollie Smith.

Scotland squad for Famous Grouse Autumn Nations Series (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)o;

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)