Iain Morrison: Gregor Townsend has plenty to ponder ahead of Scotland squad announcement

Duncan Taylor of Saracens. Picture: Getty

Even before selection Townsend has a potential problem due to another rammy between England’s Premier Rugby Ltd and World Rugby over World Cup insurance.

As things stand, players injured on World Cup duty are covered if they earn £225,000 or less per annum and for just 12 months. English clubs are unhappy with the level of cover and threatening to withhold their players until 35 days ahead of the start of the World Cup, which would mean Scotland’s English-based players would miss much of the preparation.

Presuming that problem is ironed out, there will be a fuss on Tuesday about those uncapped players in the wide squad.

It is instructive to look back at Vern Cotter’s training squad, selected ahead of the 2015 event, because it included a surprising number of uncapped players, seven in all, although a couple of them, South Africans WP Nel and Josh Strauss, had only recently qualified for Scotland.

Another couple were wingers Damian Hoyland and Rory Hughes who would play no part in the World Cup but did go on to win caps. And there were a couple of players in there, Mike Cusack and Hugh Blake, who won caps in the warm-up matches but disappeared thereafter. Being in the World Cup training squad is no stamp of excellence. Stuart McInally was the seventh uncapped player, replaced by Kevin Bryce after injury.

The uncapped contingent is likely to be smaller this time around but there could be a few contenders. In the backs, the Glasgow duo of Stafford MacDowall and Kyle Steyn both have a shout since Alex Dunbar and Huw Jones are struggling with form and fitness respectively.

Happily the news about Saracens’ Duncan Taylor is better and he may yet play his part in RWC19. The centre is nine months into an anterior cruciate ligament injury but, according to his club, he is back running at 60-70 per cent capacity and is on track for a return to action in June. A fully fit Taylor would probably be first choice at inside and outside centre for Scotland. He is crucial to the country’s campaign.

The Edinburgh pairing of James Johnstone and Chris Dean might have needed a little more rugby of late to impress the selectors. They both returned from injury against Glasgow in the third derby match and did not much enjoy the experience.

Up front there is even less chance of an uncapped player emerging from nowhere to play a starring, or any other role, in RWC19 but the one man who might want to keep his passport up to date is Scott Cummings.

The Glasgow lock enjoyed a breakthrough season two years back. After a promising start he appeared to be treading water for most of last season but has come into his own in the past few weeks and months, a natural fit with Jonny Gray in the Warriors’ second row.

Townsend is likely to take four locks plus a four/six with Sam Skinner the favourite to fill that role. With big Richie Gray playing regular rugby again, Cummings probably won’t be in the original 31-man squad but he might only be one injury away.

Intriguingly another injured “Scot” is back in contention because Blade Thomson got 30 minutes against the Dragons in a losing cause last weekend. It was the breakaway’s first rugby for almost six months after having his bell rung against Edinburgh on 2 November, 2018.

Presuming there was no adverse reaction, he should get another chance to stretch his legs against the Ospreys in the Champions Cup playoff match scheduled for 17/18 May, although that isn’t a lot of rugby with a world cup looming large.

And presuming Townsend takes three hookers, he will probably want a fourth in his World Cup squad. It will be instructive to see whether the national coach reins in his natural attacking instincts and opts for the set piece excellence of Jake Kerr (one cap) or the open field dynamism of George Turner (five caps) as the third hooker. The uncapped Grant Stewart is likely to be unlucky.