Gray battling to make final cut for Scots
RICHIE GRAY may have toured with the Lions, played in two World Cups and amassed 65 caps for his country, but there’s little doubt he still has a lot to prove if he wants to be on the plane to Japan later this year.
The 29-year-old lock was the biggest name to be omitted from Gregor Townsend’s 42-man Scotland training squad for the showpiece occasion, which was named yesterday.
All is not lost for Gray, though, as the Scotland head coach has left space for one forward and one back to ‘play their way into the group’ by performing well at the business end of the season.
Glasgow Warriors winger Lee Jones is firm favourite to pip Rory Hughes, Kyle Steyn, Dougie Fife, Matt Scott, Alex Dunbar and Stafford McDowall for the remaining space in the back division.
Gray, meanwhile, has been told he needs to outperform his fellow lock Scott Cummings and Rob Harley, who can play in both the second and back row, in the final few games of the season.
Jonny Gray, Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist and Sam Skinner have all been given the nod already, but Townsend will take just four men who can play in the second row to Japan after whittling his training squad down to 31 in late August.
While injury could still play its part, there’s little room for error for those who are desperate to make the World Cup proper.
‘Toulouse are going really well in France, they could play four more games, and Richie has that opportunity like the other guys in his position to make sure he’s the one we select at the end of the season,’ said Townsend.
‘Yes, he has lots of experience and that does count for a lot but form counts for a lot, too. Playing at a level that we know he and other players can perform at — at Test level — is important. That’s the level we are looking for from all these players who are still playing in the remaining games.
‘We’re announcing the training squad with some big games still to play, players due to play in huge games in their respective leagues, and we want to make that decision having seen these players perform at that level.’
Although Gray has a fight on his
hands, Townsend is pulling out all the stops to ensure Duncan Taylor has a chance of travelling.
The Saracens centre hasn’t played a competitive game all season after rupturing both his anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments in an A-team game against Exeter’s reserve side last September.
He is not even taking full contact yet but the 29-year-old — who last played for Scotland against Fiji in Suva in the summer of 2017 — has still been included by Townsend.
‘Duncan trained with Saracens on Monday,’ he revealed. ‘That was his first session with the team. He’s aiming to be back in full contact training within the next two or three weeks.
‘We’ve kept in touch regularly with the Saracens medics and Duncan. He’s looking good and ready to go.
‘He’s not played since pre-season last summer, so we’ll need to challenge him during our training block, give him opportunities to play a game, because he could be a very important player for us.
‘He’s been in excellent form for Scotland and Saracens over the last few years and, if he is back to that level, that would be a real bonus.
‘We have four Test matches in August and September and we’ll have some vigorous training sessions the closer we get. We’ll be monitoring Duncan to see what level he’s at and he will get an opportunity to show what he can do with us.
‘Players will get a bit of a rest at the end of the season, but Duncan will continue to do his rehab so that, when he comes in to us, he is ready to train fully.
‘That is a great position as we’ll see immediately how he is looking and he will get opportunities to move up to full contact in late July and August. We would certainly look to involve him in the first two World Cup warm-up games against France.’
Townsend didn’t hold back when asked about the importance of being able to take Taylor to Japan, adding: ‘Duncan is someone who is held in high regard with ourselves, the coaching staff and his team-mates but also his club.
‘He hasn’t played that much for Scotland in the past two years but my first connection with him as a coach was on the summer tour two years ago when he was outstanding.
‘He provides the glue for what a backline can do because of the work he does off the ball. His defensive communication is strong and he’s also a very good attacker.
‘If the timing works out well and he’s back to full fitness, then we have a player who we’ve not had for a couple of years who we would hope will be in very good form.’
Townsend is also excited over the potential of the uncapped trio which includes centre Rory Hutchinson, back-row forward Blade Thomson and Glasgow Warriors hooker Grant Stewart.
Scotland’s Word Cup preparations will begin in earnest in mid-June when they meet up at Oriam, Scotland’s National Sports Performance centre, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
They will then hold three training camps in different parts of Scotland including a hot weather camp in Portugal before home and away Test matches against France and Georgia, after which they head to Japan.