Door is open for a Graham U-turn, says Townsend
SCOTLAND head coach Gregor Townsend has not ruled out a call-up for Newcastle Falcons back row Gary Graham in the future.
Last December there was a shock north of the border when Eddie Jones called the former Scotland agegrade cap into his England training squad.
He has since been involved in further camps and was quoted as saying “I’d really like to play for England” – but he has not been named in England’s party for the Autumn Tests and is still uncapped.
Townsend did not name the 26-year-old son of former Scotland prop George Graham in his November squad either, but with 13 Test matches to be played before next year’s World Cup there are still opportunities for new faces to make their mark.
“Of course I would consider him,” Townsend said. “He’s a player we were keen to involve in the squad last year, but unfortunately for us England had a training camp before us and picked him.
“Gary is someone who has a lot of the traits we look for in a player. He’s got a good work ethic, he’s tough and he’s a very good ball carrier for a seven.
“However, the competition in that area is fierce. We’ve got some very good players in that position who have missed out on this current squad.
“Once you commit to a team, you’ve got to say you want to play for that team. Whether Gary will ever come back to being committed to Scotland, who knows, but I’ve not heard anything from him.”
Townsend confirmed new call-up Blade Thomson will not be able to make his debut against Wales even though the forward’s Scarlets team-mates will be lining up for the hosts in Cardiff.
The 27-year-old is one of three uncapped players named in the bumper 40man squad for the Autumn Tests alongside Sam Skinner and Sam Johnson.
The Scotland boss said: “The Wales game is outside the World Rugby window. Scarlets are playing Edinburgh that weekend so it would be nice of Wayne Pivac to say to Blade ‘you are available’ but we know that is not going to happen.”
Townsend will be denied the talents of Stuart Hogg, John Barclay, Zander Fagerson, Richie Gray, Duncan Taylor and Tim Swinson for the entire series through injury.
It was announced earlier this week that Gray required surgery on a hip injury but Townsend is confident the Toulouse lock will feature in the Six Nations.
“It’s a blow for him and for us,” said Townsend. “But we believe the surgery will be a success and he'll be back around Six Nations time. We’re backing him and supporting him to come back to the level we know he's capable of.”