Bruised Scotland make changes to squad as Scott Cummings faces disciplinary hearing

Scotland have called up hooker Johnny Matthews and loosehead prop Alec Hepburn into their squad for the remaining Autumn Nations Series matches against Portugal and Australia, while three injured players have been removed.

Following Sunday’s bruising 32-15 defeat by South Africa, second row Max Williamson has been forced to withdraw from the squad alongside his Glasgow Warriors teammate Jack Dempsey, who sustained a shoulder injury in the second half against the Springboks. Another Glasgow man in back row Gregor Brown is also out due to a rib issue.

It leaves head coach Gregor Townsend with a 44-man pool of players to pick from ahead of Saturday’s match against Portuguese at Murrayfield and then the final match of the series against Australia on Sunday, November 24, again at the Edinburgh venue.

Scarlets prop Alec Hepburn has been called into the Scotland squad. | SNS Group

Townsend is likely to rotate his team heavily for the visit of Portugal given the short turnaround from Sunday’s match against the world champions. Glasgow hooker Matthews could be in contention as Dylan Richardson was struggling with injury last week, while Scarlets’ prop Hepburn increases competition in the loose, with Zander Fagerson expected to be rested.

Among the other players yet to taste action so far this autumn include Jamie Bhatti, Luke Crosbie, Alex Craig, Freddy Douglas, Paddy Harrison, Will Hurd, Ewan Johnson, Nathan McBeth, Ben Muncaster, Alex Samuel, Matt Currie, George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Harry Paterson, Arron Reed and Mosese Tuipulotu.

There may be an enforced change at second row after it was announced on Monday that lock Scott Cummings will face a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday evening for his 20-minute red card for a croc roll early in the match against South Africa.

While the punishment was deemed contentious and harsh by Townsend and other people within rugby, Cummings may be banned for the Portugal match and potentially the clash with the Australians.

An Independent Disciplinary update read: “Scotland Number 5, Scott Cummings, will attend an independent disciplinary hearing after he was awarded a 20 minute red card following a review by the Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO) for an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.20 (e) (Dangerous play in a ruck - A player must not drop their weight onto an opponent or target the lower limbs) in the Autumns Nations Series match between Scotland and South Africa on Sunday 10th November 2024.

Scott Cummings' yellow card was upgraded to a 20-minute red. | SNS Group

“The player will attend the hearing via video conference before an independent Disciplinary Committee consisting of Rhian Williams – Chair (Wales), joined by Donal Courtney (Ireland) and Olly Kohn (Wales). The hearing will take place on Tuesday 12th November 2024 at 7pm (GMT).”

Scotland started this Autumn Nations Series with a 57-17 win over Fiji before performing admirably in defeat by South Africa. They are warm favourites to comfortably overcome Portugal before a blockbuster clash with the Wallabies to draw the curtain down on their 2024 campaign.