Vern Cotter unveils 31-man Scotland squad for autumn internationals

By Paul Vinnell

Image: Tim Visser has been in good form for Harlequins

Scotland head coach Vern Cotter hopes to have his England-based players available for his side's three autumn Tests.

Cotter has named five players based south of the border - captain Greig Laidlaw, Moray Low, Duncan Taylor, Sean Maitland and Tim Visser. But a row with Premiership Rugby Ltd (PRL) - the body which represents English club sides - over an outstanding £400,000 injury compensation bills is threatening their participation.

The English clubs have voted to withhold their Scotland internationals - along with players representing Italy, Samoa and Tonga over a similar dispute - until the money is paid up.

Image: Sean Maitland of Saracens dives over against Toulon

Cotter though is confident he will be able to count on the services of skipper Laidlaw, who plays for Gloucester, as well as Exeter prop Low, the Saracens pair of Taylor and Maitland and Harlequins wing Visser.

Cotter said: "That is an executive issue and (Scottish Rugby Union chief executive) Mark Dodson is dealing with that at the minute, so I'm not sure where it's going to get to.

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Image: Scotland's WP Nel charges into two Japanese players

"But we are anticipating having the players available to us, so I will let the whole thing unfold over the next couple of days, then we will know a bit more."

There is a major blow in the front row where star prop Willem Nel has been ruled out after aggravating a neck injury playing against Harlequins on Saturday.

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The squad sees a total of four additions and five replacements to the squad that won twice in Japan over the summer.

Image: Zander Fagerson on the charge against Edinburgh

Prop Zander Fagerson and centre Mark Bennett were away representing Scotland U20 and Team GB during the summer and both return.

Edinburgh lock Grant Gilchrist is back from injury while club team-mate Hamish Watson will be hoping to add to his two caps in the back-row.

Image: Mark Bennett is back in the Scotland squad

Visser and the Glasgow trio of Finn Russell, Alex Dunbar and Rob Harley replace Sean Lamont, Ruaridh Jackson, Matt Scott and the injured David Denton.

The 24-year-old Edinburgh prop Allan Dell also comes in following the injuries to Nel and Rory Sutherland.

Image: Vern Cotter hopes to have his England-based players available

Cotter said: "This is an important season for this group of players who are determined to be successful in a Scotland jersey, and have a clear will to win.

"We have a big emphasis on how we play in front of our home crowd and have three exciting challenges facing us this November.

"As always we will focus on doing the simple things consistently well, while also adding some fine detail to improve our skill sets and continue the progress of this team."

Backs: Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar,, Stuart Hogg, Pete Horne, Damien Hoyland, Huw Jones, Greig Laidlaw ,Sean Maitland, Henry Pyrgos, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour, Duncan Taylor ,Tim Visser

Forwards: John Barclay, Fraser Brown, Allan Dell, Alasdair Dickinson, Zander Fagerson, Ross Ford, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Richie Gray, John Hardie, Rob Harley, Moray Low, Stuart McInally, Gordon Reid, Josh Strauss, Tim Swinson, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson 

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