Newcastle Red Bulls back row called up for first time ahead of November Tests
Gregor Townsend has named a 37-man Scotland squad for their November Nations Championship Test matches.
Newcastle Red Bulls back rower Ollie Leatherbarrow is the surprise inclusion in the group with the 24-year-old in line for his first cap. His call up comes at the expense of Edinburgh duo Freddy Douglas and Magnus Bradbury who miss out after being involved in the summer leg of the competition earlier this year.
Blair Kinghorn, Huw Jones and Jamie Ritchie all return to the group after not being involved in July while Duhan van der Merwe is a surprise inclusion despite injury restricting his game time so far this season. Grant Gilchrist remains out of contention after only returning to action with Edinburgh last weekend following a lengthy absence.
Scotland squad named for November Nations Championship test matches
Here is the 37-man squad for the four matches which are New Zealand, Australia and Japan at Murrayfield plus one more Test as part of ‘Finals Weekend’ at Twickenham:
Forwards (21): Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby, Josh Bayliss – Bath Rugby, Gregor Brown – Glasgow Warriors, Scott Cummings – Glasgow Warriors, Alex Craig – Glasgow Warriors, Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors, Jack Dempsey – Toshiba Brave Lupus, Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors, Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors, Jonny Gray – Perpignan, Gregor Hiddleston – Glasgow Warriors, Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers, Ollie Leatherbarrow – Newcastle Red Bulls, Nathan McBeth – Glasgow Warriors, Liam McConnell – Edinburgh Rugby, Elliot Millar Mills – Northampton Saints, Jamie Ritchie – Glasgow Warriors, Pierre Schoeman, Rory Sutherland, Seb Stephen, Max Williamson. Backs (16): Fergus Burke – Saracens, Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors, Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby, George Horne – Glasgow Warriors, Rory Hutchinson – Northampton Saints, Huw Jones – Toulon, Tom Jordan – Bristol Bears, Blair Kinghorn – Toulouse, Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors, Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors, Finn Russell – Bath Rugby, Ollie Smith – Glasgow Warriors, Kyle Steyn – Glasgow Warriors, Sione Tuipulotu – Captain – Glasgow Warriors, Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby, Ben White – Toulon.
Who is Ollie Leatherbarrow and how does he qualify for Scotland?
Leatherbarrow qualifies for Scotland due to his grandmother being from Perth. He has represented Scotland at Under-16s and 20s levels after beginning his career at Exeter Chiefs before moving to Newcastle Red Bulls in 2023.
Sione Tuipulotu is once again named as captain and is one of 19 Glasgow Warriors players in the squad. Edinburgh have just five players in the group despite their excellent start to the URC season which sees them sitting top of the league table with four wins from four and 19 points.
Perplexing omissions and surprise inclusions as Scotland squad named for November Nations Championship Test matches
While Leatherbarrow is the name that immediately jumps out it would be fair to call van der Merwe’s inclusion as a bit of a surprise as well. The one time national team record try scorer has missed much of the season with Edinburgh through injury and his form throughout 2026 for club and country has been mixed.
Douglas and Bradbury are by far the most perplexing omissions with both having been involved in the summer and both in excellent form for the capital club so far this campaign. Up and coming talents like Ollie Blyth-Lafferty and Hector Patterson might also have been in with a shout but have not been included.
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