Richie Gray hearing, Finn Russell uncertainty, duo ruled out, uncapped newcomer - how Scotland are shaping up for Argentina test

Richie Gray has been cited for an act of foul play in Scotland’s 31-23 defeat by New Zealand on Sunday.

Scotland's Richie Gray, centre, has been cited for an incident in the New Zealand game. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The Scotland lock will now attend an independent disciplinary hearing and could miss the final autumn Test, against Argentina at Murrayfield on Saturday. Gray is accused of breaching Law No 9.20(a) which states that a player must not charge into a ruck or maul. Charging includes any contact made without binding onto another player.

No date has been announced yet for the hearing which will be heard via video conference before an independent judicial committee chaired by Shao-ing Wang of Singapore. Two other judicial committee members will be confirmed in due course.

Scotland, meanwhile, have called up the uncapped Saracens lock Callum Hunter-Hill for the Pumas game. They have also confirmed that Hamish Watson and Rory Sutherland have been ruled out through injury. Both players had to go off against New Zealand, with flanker Watson sustaining a head knock in the first half while tackling Jordie Barrett and replacement prop Sutherland injuring his knee in the second half.

Hunter-Hill has been in good form in the English Premiership and the former Scotland Under-20 international could come into contention for a place on the bench this weekend. The 25-year-old had spells at both Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh in his younger years but has prospered since moving to Saracens.

Scotland are also prepared for the possibility of losing Finn Russell should his partner, the Scottish athlete Emma Canning, go into labour. “I think the due date is the week after Argentina, but the midwives and the doctors said the week before,” said Gregor Townsend, the Scotland coach. “So we’ll see, timing could be great, early in the week and he’s fine.”

Townsend enthused about Russell’s performance against New Zealand after excluding the stand-off from his original autumn squad. The player was recalled after Adam Hastings was injured against Fiji.

The coach has now called on Scotland to use the All Blacks defeat as motivation against Argentina. “Disappointment has to fuel them, what we did has to motivate that we can deliver a better performance next week,” he said.