DAVID SOLE

With all this in mind, it’s hardly surprising Murrayfield has sold out

Gregor Townsend announced few surprises in his squad for the upcoming autumn internationals.

Ever a risk-taker as a player, Townsend has selected 10 uncapped players, and this could be considered to be avoiding the ‘safety-first’ approach.

Of course, it is a different thing being selected in the squad to being picked in the 23 for the opening match against Samoa in a fortnight.

So in some respects, giving these players experience of the national team may be a good thing.

There are a few players who definitely deserve their place in the extended group and who have trained with the squad before.

But there are also a few new names who are less well-known and who have come through other national systems and clubs.

These players include prop Darryl Marfo, formerly of Bath and now at Edinburgh; Byron McGuigan who was at Glasgow with Townsend and who is now doing well at Sale; former Wales Under-20 player Luke Hamilton, now at Leicester; Chris Harris who came through the Newcastle Falcons Academy system and Nathan Fowles, who is well known at Edinburgh.

There is also an extensive list of injured players, symptomatic of just how tough the game has become.

Indeed, if you selected a Scottish team from those who are unavailable, it wouldn’t look that bad.

There are players like Mark Bennett, Alisdair Dickinson, Richie Gray, Duncan Taylor, Greig Laidlaw and Sean Maitland all injured, and many of them would be challenging for places if they were fit.

Yet Townsend has good strength in depth in most positions, and I’m sure that he will be hoping that the games will not be too attritional in terms of damage to his squad.

That he has had to go so far and wide to pick players in form in his 36 is indicative that there isn’t a completely full pipeline coming through the system in Scotland.

Interestingly, some of Scotland’s key players who didn’t feature in last year’s championship have returned.

While Zander Fagerson did a great job and has a bright future, WP Nel’s scrummaging power will be welcomed back.

Similarly, even with the giant Richie Gray out, Grant Gilchrist’s return is a great step forward, and the competition for places in the boiler house intensifies with the youthful Scott Cummings having impressed this season.

With all this in mind, it is hardly surprising that Murrayfield has sold out twice. All that remains is for Townsend’s players to pick up where Vern Cotter left them a few months ago.