Five Scotland players who could make important breakthroughs in Nations Championship Summer Tests

Supporters now turn their attentions back to international matters, with Gregor Townsend set to name his squad for this Summer’s Nations Championship Test matches on Tuesday. The Scots will take on Argentina, South Africa and Fiji as part of the inaugural sets of fixtures in the new competition.

Summer Test matches have traditionally seen fringe and younger players taking the lead to gain valuable experience, but this time around it may be the case that we witness full strength sides going head-to-head. However, there are still a number of players who have already been capped, or have been around squads, that could given an opportunity to prove they are ready for more regular minutes in dark blue and here are five that we think could make important breakthroughs:

Gregor Hiddleston

Ewan Ashman has been one of Edinburgh’s stand-outs in an ultimately poor season for the capital club. George Turner and Dave Cherry both have bags of experience but at 33-years-old and 35-years-old respectively are likely coming towards the end of their international careers.

That should open a gap for the as yet uncapped Glasgow Warriors hooker to step up and this summer could be the perfect window. Hiddleston has been an ever present for Franco Smith’s side this season as they topped the URC league table and finished second in the Champions Cup standings.

At this stage it would be a surprise to not see him make his international debut this Summer. Then again, there’s also the small matter of departing club teammate Johnny Matthews, whose lack of caps remains a point of contention for may supporters.

Josh Bayliss

The back-rower made his 150th appearance for Bath last month. That’s no small task with the level of competition at a club who have finished second, first and now second again across the last three Gallagher Premiership regular season campaigns.

He has also largely impressed while pulling on the dark blue, bringing athleticism to the back row and an additional try threat when found in space out wide. He’s the epitome of a modern loose-forward and at 28-years-old, and with a lot of promising youngsters coming through, this might be one of his last chances to push from squad player to starter for the national team.

Jack Dempsey’s international future remains uncertain and that could facilitate Matt Fagerson moving from six to No 8, where Edinburgh skipper Magnus Bradbury is another good option. That leaves the blindside jersey up for grabs. Bayliss should be going head-to-head with new Glasgow signing and former national team skipper Jamie Ritchie.

Freddy Douglas

Unlike some others on this list, the Edinburgh flanker has plenty of time on his side to make his breakthrough. At 21-years-old he is only now coming out of the ‘emerging’ bracket and next year may be where we really start to see him impressing week in and week out.

That being said, it’s been a long old season for Glasgow Warriors and Rory Darge - even Scotland’s resident turnover machine is only human. Douglas is very much viewed as the future in that jersey for Scotland and these matches could be a good opportunity to begin pashing him slowly but surely towards that.

Darge still has a long international career ahead of him so having not just one but hopefully two world class players fighting for that position will be an great selection headache for Townsend. Let’s see what the next few matches have in store for youngest player to represent the men’s national team since 1963.

Fergus Burke

Finn Russell can’t go on forever. It’s not something that Scotland supporters like thinking about but it’s the reality of the sport and sooner or later, as Ireland realised with Jonny Sexton, you are going to be hit with the reality of his absence.

Let’s hope that’s not for a few more years yet but, all the same, it might not hurt to start having one eye on the future. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where a new stand-off is thrown into Test level rugby with less experience than you might otherwise like.

Scotland shouldn’t have that problem with Tom Jordan firmly established but Burke, a player with a lot of hype around him, is yet to really show what he’s all about at the top level. He’s been earning rave reviews at Saracens this season and has been around the camp for a few years now so this feels like the right time to pull the trigger and give him, at the very least, one of these three tests as the starting 10.

Arron Reed

Spare a thought for the Sale Sharks winger who quite frankly couldn’t do more to put his hand up for international selection. The 26-year old has been racking up tries for fun in the Gallagher Premiership for his club this season and has scored four times for Scotland in just four caps.

He’s a player very much in the mould of Darcy Graham and therein lies the problem, with the men’s national team all time top try scorer being the man he would need to displace. Glasgow skipper Kyle Steyn is pretty much one of the first names on the team sheet on the other wing to the point where he’s keeping Duhan van der Merwe out of the side, while Kyle Rowe’s performances this season saw him earn a spot in the URC Elite XV.

It’s by far the most stacked area of the pitch for Gregor Townsend to choose from and another brilliant problem for him to have. Reed, unlike the others, hasn’t had much chance to prove himself against tier one international sides so this summer could prove a crucial litmus test.

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