SCOTLAND COACH VERN Cotter has named a squad full of familiar names for his side’s first tour of Japan since 1989.
There are no uncapped players in the experienced 27-man group, with just three players who were not involved during their promising Six Nations exploits.
Injury prevented Henry Pyrgos and Fraser Brown from making more of an impact during the last international window while exciting 22-year-old Edinburgh wing Damien Hoyland is the third addition.
Glasgow centre Mark Bennett was omitted from the squad to allow him to compete for a place in Team GB’s Sevens squad for the Olympic Games.
“Being a two-match tour, rather than three, allows us to take a smaller squad; a tight group, though opportunities still remain for other players to come in,” said Cotter after unveiling the group.
“This squad still has a lot of work to do to get better and this is another opportunity to analyse our last game against Ireland and the RBS 6 Nations Championship as a whole, in order to move forward.”
“The first game will be especially tough. We have five days to prepare following our arrival in Japan to face a team one place below us in the world rankings, on home soil.”
Scotland squad for Tests v Japan on 18 and 15 June
Forwards:
Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh), Moray Low (Exeter Chiefs), Willem Nel (Edinburgh), Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh). Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors); Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby);. Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Castres), Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors). John Barclay (Scarlets), David Denton (Bath), John Hardie (Edinburgh), Josh Strauss (Glasgow Warriors); Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors).
Backs:
Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors). Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh), Sean Maitland (London Irish), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Tim Visser (Harlequins). Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors), Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Scott (Edinburgh), Duncan Taylor (Saracens). Ruaridh Jackson (Wasps), Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors). Greig Laidlaw (Gloucester), Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors).
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