Gregor Townsend focussed on creating depth in Scotland squad

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend insists on giving players opportunities during the two day training camp in St Andrews from Sunday in order to create a depth in the squad.

Townsend, who took in charge of the Dark Blues during the June internationals has announced a 41-man squad that includes seven uncapped players - Darcy Graham, Matt Fagerson, Phil Burleigh, Jamie Bhatti, Anton Bresler, Scott Cummings and Jamie Ritchie.

Even during the June internationals that included games against Italy, Australia and Fiji, Townsend had a chance to experiment a bit with players missing due to injuries and British and Irish Lions commitment.

"Would I like brilliant players in every position? Yeah, of course and that’s what creates depth, you’ve got to look at different players as well.

"We had 34 on tour, I think there’s another 13 players who weren’t on tour who’re going to come on Sunday into our squad so that’s players we’re giving opportunities to create depth."

Scotland are set to take Samoa, New Zealand and Australia in the upcoming autumn internationals following which they will feature in the Six Nations 2018 tournament.

Even though, the former Glasgow Warriors coach insisted on creating a depth, he is hoping for the best combination to be available while taking on top teams as he believes momentum will be a key factor.

"Given the fact that we’re playing the top teams in the world in the next eight games we have to put our best team out there,"he said at the squad announcement last week.

"We’re going to be playing six out the top eight teams in the world in our next seven games. The only team in the top eight we’re not playing is South Africa so we’ll need our best team in every fixture.

"The way the November fixtures fall we’re playing Samoa first and then two teams in the top four so there’s no room to experiment too much. We need our best team to beat Samoa and to build momentum ahead of that All Blacks game."

Scotland do have a decent pool of players in the second row forwards in the absence of Richie and Jonny Gray that includes Tim Swinson, Ben Toolis, Scott Cummings, Anton Bresler and Grant Gilchrist. However the same cannot be said about loosehead prop with Alasdair Dickinson also undergoing a lengthy rehabilitation period. The number 10 is another position that is being dominated by Finn Russell.

Lavishing praise on Russell, Townsend urged on the players outside the squad to challenge the fly-half, who he believes is among the best in the world.

"He’s [Russell] an outstanding player," said Townsend.

"Obviously if you saw the Australia game he was world class that day and it’s great to have a player of his ability.

"We have to have depth in that position. The players you mentioned are capable of playing a bit at ten but we are looking forward to players who aren’t in the squad putting their hands up."