The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Scots pair will miss Latin America tour
Scotland have lost two potential test starters even before they have boarded the plane for the fourmatch tour to South America – but they are “happy and excited” by who is left.
Adam Hastings and Huw Jones picked up injuries in the final games for their clubs and will not tour. Nor will they be replaced, with the only call-up for the final sessions being Glasgow hooker Jonny Matthews.
Defence coach Steve Tandy said Matthews was a late call for illness to George Turner, but the first choice hooker probably was not going to play in the opening game against Chile in Santiago.
That game, on June 25, will feature a Scotland “A” selection, with home-based players only. There is certainly a developmental scope in the squad selected, and Tandy said he was enthused to work with new faces in the camp.
“We feel very fortunate and grateful we’re able to tour with guys that know the course and have massive connection,” he said.
“There is great excitement, great opportunities for people and it’s a chance to go on tour for four weeks. We haven’t done that for a long time. It’s a chance to get further connected and be in a really hostile environment for those test matches.”
Three games against Argentina follow the match against Chile and while the
Pumas are a known quantity, Chile are a step into the relative unknown.
“The first game is going to be home-based guys so we have a few ideas around that,” Tandy said. “We want to give people opportunities and it’s a great chance to do that against Chile.
“But we don’t want to underestimate them either. They beat Canada to have a chance at the World Cup.
“They are a real physical outfit and they want to play. We’d like to see everyone get an opportunity at some point, but we’ll definitely be taking Chile very seriously.
“Genuinely, I always feel excitement coming into whatever group we’ve got. We have connections with Glasgow and Edinburgh and we see the boys who are really new to us. It’s just absolute excitement to see all the boys and the energy they are bringing. Their understanding, learning and development has been very good for us.”
Tandy agreed that after a couple of “amazing” seasons defensively, the 2022 Six Nations had been a disappointment in his speciality.
“There is always going to be a bit of recalibration,” he said. “Looking back at the Six Nations, the France game was a big disappointment.
“The last 15 minutes against Italy, we were really disappointed with that. But it was nothing we felt about what they were doing, it was where we need to be.
“We’re striving to be better than we were there.”