SCOTLAND have included uncapped Bath forward Josh Bayliss in a squad of 36 for their Six Nations match against France on Sunday. Stand-off Adam Hastings is also included following his return from injury for Glasgow on Friday night, while Warriors scrum-half Jamie Dobie is named as a full member for the first time.
Zander Fagerson is omitted, but the SRU has announced that it plans to appeal against the tighthead prop’s four-week ban for the red card he received against Wales. If Fagerson were cleared on appeal he would be able to play in the game at the Stade de France, although a reduced suspension appears to be the best he can hope for given the nature of the offence, in which his shoulder made contact with the head of an opponent.
Meanwhile, the Covid outbreak within the French camp continues to worsen, with centre Arthur Vincent and hooker Julien Marchand becoming the latest to test positive. Those two join star scrum-half Antoine Dupont, wing Gabin Villiere and prop Mohamed Haouas in being ruled out of the Scotland match. All five started the win against Ireland in the last round of games.
France head coach Fabien Galthie and forwards coach William Servat remain in isolation after testing positive last week, while two other members of the backroom staff have also returned positive results. Yesterday Galthie named a squad of 31 to prepare for the game, which as things stand is still planned to go ahead on schedule.
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Scotland coach Gregor Townsend’s inclusion of Bayliss in his squad came as a surprise given the 23-year-old’s lack of previous involvement. Like his Bath team-mate Cameron Redpath, who made his debut for Scotland in the Calcutta Cup win at the start of the month but is currently out injured, Bayliss has played for England Under-20s. He qualifies for Scotland through an Aberdeen-born grandmother, and has been an ever-present for Bath this season.
“We welcome Josh into our squad as we look to build on our opening two games of the Championship,” Townsend said last night. “We have been following his performances with Bath, and a combination of his form and a couple of injuries in our squad have given us the opportunity to involve him for the first time. We are also delighted to add Jamie Dobie to our group following his impressive outing for Glasgow on Friday night and the quality he showed while training with us prior to our game against England.”
Dobie’s team-mates Rob Harley and Sam Johnson return to the squad, as do Jamie Bhatti of Bath and Cornell du Preez of Worcester. Jamie Ritchie and Sean Maitland are also included again, having played in the win over England but then being unfit to play against Wales because of injury, but Gary Graham and Blade Thomson have yet to recover from their injuries and are both back with their clubs.
Edinburgh centre Matt Currie, who made his debut against Munster on Saturday night, has been invited to train with the squad, as has his team-mate, back-row forward Ben Muncaster.
The decision to appeal against Fagerson's ban was stated in two sentences at the end of the squad announcement. "Prop Zander Fagerson is not listed in the latest squad update," it read. "Scottish Rugby will appeal his disciplinary hearing ban of four matches, issued last week."
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SCOTLAND
Backs: Jamie Dobie (Glasgow), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh), Chris Harris (Gloucester), Adam Hastings (Glasgow), Stuart Hogg (Exeter, captain), Sam Johnson (Glasgow), Huw Jones (Glasgow), James Lang (Harlequins), Sean Maitland (Saracens), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh), Ali Price (Glasgow), Finn Russell (Racing 92), Scott Steele (Harlequins), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh).
Forwards: Ewan Ashman (Sale), Josh Bayliss (Bath), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Jamie Bhatti (Bath), David Cherry (Edinburgh), Alex Craig (Gloucester), Scott Cummings (Glasgow), Matt Fagerson (Glasgow), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Exeter), Richie Gray (Glasgow), Rob Harley (Glasgow), Oli Kebble (Glasgow), Willem Nel (Edinburgh), Cornell du Preez (Worcester), D’Arcy Rae (Glasgow), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), Grant Stewart (Glasgow), Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh), George Turner (Glasgow), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh).
FRANCE
Front row: Dorian Aldegheri, Uini Atonio, Cyril Baille, Demba Bamba, Teddy Baubigny, Pierre Bourgarit, Hassane Kolingar, Peato Mauvaka. Locks: Killian Geraci, Bernard Le Roux, Romain Taofifenua, Paul Willemse. Back row: Gregory Alldritt, Dylan Cretin, Anthony Jelonch, Charles Ollivon, Cameron Woki.
Scrum-halves: Sebastien Bezy, Maxime Lucu, Baptiste Serin. Stand-offs: Louis Carbonel, Matthieu Jalibert. Centres: Pierre-Louis Barassi, Jonathan Danty, Gael Fickou, Yoram Moefana. Wingers: Damian Penaud, Donovan Taofifenua, Teddy Thomas. Full-backs: Anthony Bouthier, Brice Dulin.
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