Scotland name experienced 'tight' squad for June trip to Japan

By Andy Charles

Image: Edinburgh's Damien Hoyland is one of few untried players in the Scotland squad

Scotland coach Vern Cotter has resisted the chance to take a youthful squad on their two-game trip to Japan this summer.

Cotter will only take 27 players for the games on June 18 and 25, with 24 of those having been a part of his squad at some point during the Six Nations earlier this year.

Young Edinburgh winger Damien Hoyland could get the chance to add to the solitary cap he won against Italy last summer while there are also places for scrum-half Henry Pyrgos and hooker Fraser Brown, who missed the European competition through injury.

Cotter opted not to include Glasgow centre Mark Bennett to allow him the chance to secure a place in the Great Britain Sevens squad for the Olympic Games in Rio later in the summer.

Scotland played Japan - then coached by England's Eddie Jones - most recently at last year's World Cup, when they overcame a slow start to win 45-10, and Cotter expects two tough games in Toyota City and Tokyo next month.

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"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," he told thescotlandteam.com.

Image: Vern Cotter expects two tough games against Japan

"We will be working on becoming smarter in the way that we look to win, with winning, of course, being our focus.

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"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.

"You only have to look at the crowd numbers and the passion that the Japanese people have at the Sunwolves [inaugural Japanese Super Rugby team] fixtures at home to know that this will be a real test for the players."

Scotland squad:

Forwards: Alasdair Dickinson, Willem Nel, Moray Low, Rory Sutherland, Ross Ford, Stuart McInally, Fraser Brown, Jonny Gray, Richie Gray, Tim Swinson, John Barclay, David Denton, John Hardie, Josh Strauss, Ryan Wilson.

Backs: Greig Laidlaw, Henry Pyrgos, Finn Russell, Ruaridh Jackson, Alex Dunbar, Peter Horne, Duncan Taylor, Damien Hoyland, Sean Maitland, Tommy Seymour, Tim Visser, Stuart Hogg.

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