Gregor Townsend stressed the importance of Scotland’s summer tour of the South Pacific after naming his 36-man squad for the three fixtures.
The Scots kick off with a match against the Maori All Blacks in Whangarei, New Zealand on July 5 before they take on Fiji a week later, with the match marking Scotland’s first game on Fijian soil since 2017.
In their final game, Scotland take on Samoa in Auckland, New Zealand at the historic Eden Park on July 18.
Head coach Townsend, who named Rory Darge as captain with George Turner returning to the fold after missing the last year of international rugby following his move to Kobelco Kobe Steelers in Japan, said: “We know that playing Test matches for Scotland and winning Test matches for Scotland is really important, so we have to pick a strong squad to take on the likes of Fiji and Samoa.
“It’s an even more important issue with the world-ranking points. The World Cup draw gets made after November, so these games are crucial to make sure we’ve got the best chance of being in that top six and getting a better seeding.
“There’s always, maybe one or two players that we decided not to select not because of form, but because we think it’s not right for them to go into tour at this time.
“But other than that, it’s as strong as a squad as we could select, and the benefit of having that third game of the game against Maori All Blacks will mean that we will everybody in tour will get game time, and players that maybe haven’t played as much for us in the past are going to get game time on the tour and game time for Scotland.”
There are three uncapped players named by head coach Gregor Townsend – stand-off Fergus Burke, back-row Alexander Masibaka and tighthead prop Fin Richardson – although all three have been involved with the squad before.
In the back row, Matt Fagerson has been included despite missing the end of season with Glasgow through injury but there is no place for Jack Dempsey, who had been sidelined since the Six Nations win over Wales in March. Forwards Andy Onyeama-Christie and Max Williamson are back in after injury.
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Townsend said he was pleased to be able to recall Turner, who has signed for Harlequins for next season.
He said: “I think when George went to Japan, we never knew whether that would be extended and he was there until the end of his career, which would make it very difficult for him to be considered for us, given the Japan season is played during the Six Nations.
“So it was very good news that he got a club back in the UK and he was really keen to be back involved with us.”
Townsend believes some of the Scotland players who narrowly missed out on selection for the British and Irish Lions squad for the tour of Australia may yet get their chance.
He said: “I don’t want to say we hope that to happen because that means someone’s been injured on the tour, but if someone does get injured, then we would like to feel that our players in a strong position. Some would have been very close to selection anyway.
“If they’re playing in New Zealand or in Fiji and playing well, then that gives them an even bigger opportunity to potentially join the Lions tour.
“We’ve seen the weekend, unfortunately for us was Zander (Fagerson) being injured, but there will be injuries on the way to Australia and during the tour in Australia.
“But the good thing for our players and those that maybe were closer to selection is they were so keen to come out and tour. They’ve had long seasons, but some of these players are in great form. I look at the weekend and seeing lots of Rory Darge and Tom Jordan still playing some of their best rugby at this time of the season.
“So that’s great for us as we go to tour, but it should be also good for chances of getting on the Lions tour.”
Scotland Under-20 men’s assistant coach Fergus Pringle has been appointed as forwards coach for the tour, deputising for John Dalziel, who will be with the Lions.
