‘Look out the big-boy pants’ - Scotland squad braced for cruellest cut ahead of Rugby World Cup

The first cut is the deepest and when Gregor Townsend trims his World Cup training squad down to 33 for the tournament itself there will be casualties.

It won’t quite be blood on the walls but there will be crushing disappointment for the unlucky eight or nine who don’t make it. Scotland are due to play four matches before the tournament begins and Townsend is expected to name his final selection some time between the third of those, against France in Saint-Étienne on August 12, and the final warm-up, against Georgia at Murrayfield on August 26.

The coach picked an initial training squad of 41 back in May but there have already been comings and goings. Stuart Hogg’s dramatic retirement announcement a week past Sunday has deprived Scotland of their all-time leading try-scorer. Ruaridh McConnochie, the uncapped Bath player, has been drafted in as back-three cover. Andy Christie, the Saracens back row, has also left the squad for treatment on an arm injury, with Bath’s Josh Bayliss brought in. Kyle Rowe, Glasgow’s new signing from London Irish, has been training with Scotland this week and provides another back-three option.

The dress rehearsals begin with a couple of home games, against Italy and France, on July 29 and August 5, and everyone is likely to be given game-time before Townsend announces his World Cup squad. Scotland, as if we need reminding, have been drawn in Pool B, the proverbial group of death, which comprises South Africa, Tonga, Romania and Ireland. Townsend’s side will play them in that order, kicking off with a game against the defending champions in Marseille on September 10.

Grant Gilchrist in action during the 2019 Rugby World Cup Group A game between Scotland and Russia at Shizuoka Stadium in Fukuroi, Shizuoka, Japan. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

“Competition is fierce, everyone wants to be part of the World Cup squad, but everyone wants to do well now and we all understand that the work we put in now will play a big part in how we perform come September,” said Grant Gilchrist, the second row forward who is aiming for his third World Cup. If selected, he thinks it will be his last. Gilchrist turns 33 next month and is experienced enough to know the importance of the collective. While everyone wants to be on the plane to France, selection will be based on what you can bring to the team and you need to be braced for the potential disappointment of missing out.

“We all just need to have our big-boy pants on and get on with it,” he said. “That’s the reality of the situation. Everyone is desperate to be part of that final squad obviously but the best way to go about that individually is to give everything to the team, not to go into individual battles. That’s not going to impress the coaches or anyone at training, making it a one on one. It’s about making sure you’re doing your part for the team where you’re giving absolutely everything. That’s all you can ask. I know personally that if I give my absolute all and don’t make the squad then I’ll be able to look myself in the mirror and know that I did everything that I could. I could still be proud of myself. That’s the attitude that the players have to take. It’s not nice obviously. It’s going to be devastating for the guys [who miss out] but that’s the reality that we’re in.”

Scotland have been training hard since the domestic season ended, including a stint near Nice where they will base themselves for the tournament. Gilchrist has a good feeling about this group despite the tough draw.

“It is likely to be my last opportunity to play in a World Cup and if I get that opportunity I believe that with this group of players it is the best chance we have,” said the Edinburgh lock. “We know how tough the pool is, but we are also in a stage of our development where we have been together now as a pretty settled group for a long time and we have shown in spurts that we can mix it with the best teams in the world. We believe that and we have shown it against the teams that we will be coming up against. I didn’t play in the Ireland game in the Six Nations, but in the first half we showed that intensity needed to beat Ireland. We weren’t able to do it for 80 minutes, a similar story against South Africa in the Autumn Tests last season, at the 60-minute mark I think we were ahead and we knew what it took to win it. We didn’t quite have enough at that point and now we have been working tirelessly over the last six weeks to make sure we can take the belief forward that we know we can beat these teams, we are not quite there yet, but can we get that growth over the warm up games so we can do it come the big time.”

Grant Gilchrist, who has his sights set on a third Rugby World Cup, during a Scotland training session at Oriam in Edinburgh this week. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

Scotland failed to get out of their group four years ago in Japan so why does Gilchrist think this squad has more of a chance given they’re in what appears to be an even tougher pool? “I just think this team has been together since 2019 and has been on a bit of a journey,” he says. “I think we have got better year on year and we have got ourselves to a position where it’s ‘if not now then never’. We have done the work, we have had the experiences as a team, good and bad, to shape it and we now know what we need to do. It is whether we can do it on the big stage.”