Scotland door left open for Japan-bound star as Nations Championship squad named

The back-row forward played his final game for Glasgow Warriors at the weekend and is set to join up with Toshiba Brave Lupus in Tokyo ahead of the new Japanese season later this year.

On Tuesday he was named in Townsend’s squad for the southern hemisphere leg of the Nations Championship which will see Scotland play Argentina and South Africa away and Fiji at home.

The national coach has selected a 36-man tour party for next month’s games, which includes two uncapped players, the Glasgow hookers Gregor Hiddleston and Seb Stephen, but the squad is made up mainly of the tried and trusted.

Sione Tuipulotu retains the captaincy and there are also call-ups for Scotland regulars Finn Russell, Ben White, Kyle Steyn, Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge and Matt Fagerson.

Kinghorn rested

However, Huw Jones, Jamie Ritchie and George Turner all miss out through injury and Blair Kinghorn, Grant Gilchrist and Dave Cherry have been rested.

The influential Dempsey signed off for Glasgow in Saturday’s disappointing 22-21 defeat by the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship semi-final but the No 8 has had another impressive season, both for the Warriors and Scotland. A powerful ball-carrier, the 32-year-old remains an important cog in Townsend’s plans and he does not expect the player’s move to Japan to change that.

As well as being part of the summer squad, Dempsey is likely to also be available for the November leg of the Nations Championship. His participation in next year’s Six Nations is less certain but Townsend hasn’t ruled it out and he fully expects to have him at the 2027 World Cup. “Yes, 100 per cent,” said Townsend, when asked about the tournament in Australia.

“Japan’s season starts around December, January. So our next two campaigns we see Jack being involved with us,” said Townsend. “He's playing well, played really well in the Six Nations. He will be able to join his club around September and get some pre-season training before he becomes available for us in November. But yes, Jack's very much a part of who we are right now.”

Townsend did not select either Turner or Richie Gray when they moved to Japan, but Dempsey will remain very much part of his plans.

Spanish training camp

“Going to Japan won't rule him out for Test matches,” said the coach. “We'll be playing the South African team in three or four weeks' time and a lot of their players come from Japan. They're available for the Rugby Championship and they're available in November. Jack will be similar. We'll have to address what happens in the Six Nations, but right now Jack is playing well.

“We understand the Japan season goes on at the same time as the Six Nations, but we'll see. It might be that we want to look at someone else in that period anyway. Just now, for this tournament and November, Jack will be available.”

Scotland will head to Madrid on June 21 for a training camp before leaving for Argentina and will play a hit-out game against Spain to help them prepare. The Pumas match is in Cordoba on July 4 after which the squad will fly to South Africa to prepare for the Springboks Test in Pretoria on July 11. They will then return to Edinburgh to play Fiji on July 18.

Full Scotland squad (caps in brackets)

Forwards: Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (35), Josh Bayliss – Bath Rugby (16), Magnus Bradbury – Edinburgh Rugby (22), Gregor Brown – Glasgow Warriors (16), Scott Cummings – Glasgow Warriors (49), Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors (39), Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors (33), Freddy Douglas – Edinburgh Rugby (2), Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (64), Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (81), Jonny Gray – Perpignan (81), Gregor Hiddleston – Glasgow Warriors (uncapped), Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (10), Nathan McBeth – Glasgow Warriors (8), Liam McConnell – Edinburgh Rugby (1), Elliot Millar Mills – Northampton Saints (14), D’arcy Rae – Edinburgh Rugby (7), Alex Samuel – Glasgow Warriors (3), Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby (49), Seb Stephen – Glasgow Warriors (uncapped), Rory Sutherland – Glasgow Warriors (48), Max Williamson – Glasgow Warriors (13).

Backs: Fergus Burke – Saracens (3), Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors (19), Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby (55), George Horne – Glasgow Warriors (45), Rory Hutchinson – Northampton Saints (11), Tom Jordan – Bristol Bears (17), Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (16), Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (17), Finn Russell – Bath Rugby (94), Ollie Smith – Glasgow Warriors (12), Kyle Steyn – Glasgow Warriors (33), Sione Tuipulotu – Captain – Glasgow Warriors (38), Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby (53), Ben White – Toulon (36).