Wednesday 17 October 2018 11:31, UK
Gregor Townsend has included the uncapped trio of Sam Skinner, Sam Johnson and Blade Thomson in his Scotland squad for the autumn internationals.
Exeter second-rower Skinner is a former England youth international while Scarlets number eight Thomson has represented New Zealand's Under-20s.
They join Glasgow centre Johnson in the 40-man group named ahead of next month's clash with Wales in Cardiff and three Murrayfield Tests against Fiji, South Africa and Argentina.
Thomson and Skinner are eligible for Scotland through family connections, Thomson through his Wishaw-born paternal grandfather Robert, while Skinner's father Peter hails from Ayr.
Skinner, 23, has previously been involved in the Scottish Exiles programme as a teenager before being called up for England Under-20s.
He played a prominent role as Exeter won the Premiership title for the first time in 2017 and finished as runners-up in last year's final.
Thomson, 27, arrived in west Wales from Super Rugby side Hurricanes, having represented New Zealand Under-20s and the Maori All Blacks, and has been a stand-out performer for Scarlets in his debut Guinness PRO14 season.
Australian-born Johnson is eligible for Scotland on residency grounds, having joined Glasgow in the summer of 2015.
Head coach Townsend said: "We now begin the last 12 months of our preparations for Rugby World Cup 2019 with four Test matches in four weeks, a similar challenge to the one we'll face in Japan.
"We've named a 40-man group for this campaign, which highlights the quality of player that is now available to us and the competition for places.
"It also enables us to welcome more players into our training environment and hopefully give a few more players a taste of Test match rugby.
"It's going to be an exciting year for the squad but our primary focus is fixed on performing well against Wales - familiar opponents who have already recorded a win against us this year."
Forwards: Alex Allan, Simon Berghan, Magnus Bradbury, Fraser Brown, Allan Dell, David Denton, Matt Fagerson, Ross Ford, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Rob Harley, Murray McCallum, Stuart McInally, WP Nel, Gordon Reid, Jamie Ritchie, Sam Skinner, Blade Thomson, Ben Toolis, George Turner, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson.
Backs: Alex Dunbar, Dougie Fife, Chris Harris, Adam Hastings, George Horne, Pete Horne, Sam Johnson, Huw Jones, Lee Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Greig Laidlaw, Sean Maitland, Byron McGuigan, Ali Price, Henry Pyrgos, Finn Russell, Matt Scott, Tommy Seymour.
