He added: “Players are often called up from beyond the 31-man group that travels to a world cup, so I’d encourage these players to keep working as hard on their skills and fitness as they have over the summer, as we may need to call on them in the weeks ahead.”



The national team’s preparations for Japan will intensify once again next week as a series of four home-and-away Summer Test matches begins when Scotland travel to face France on Saturday 17 August, before hosting the return fixture at BT Murrayfield a week later (Saturday 24 August).

The first leg of the double header against Georgia follows on Saturday 31 August, where Scotland will be the first Tier 1 nation to face the Lelos on home soil at the Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi.

The national team will then complete its competitive preparations for RWC2019 on home soil, when they face Georgia on Friday 6 September at BT Murrayfield.

WHERE TO WATCH

The home-and-away pairs of back-to-back fixtures will be broadcast live in HD on Premier Sports, followed by a delayed, free-to-air broadcast on FreeSports (available on Freeview, Sky, Virgin, FreeSat, TalkTalk and BT TV).

SCOTLAND RUGBY WORLD CUP TRAINING SQUAD

FORWARDS (23)

John Barclay (Edinburgh) – 71 caps; Rugby World Cup 2007 and 2011

Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) – 19 caps

Jamie Bhatti (Edinburgh) – 13 caps

Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh) – 7 caps

Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 42 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped

Allan Dell (London Irish) – 22 caps

Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps

Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps

Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 33 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 51 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Stuart McInally (Edinburgh) – 27 caps

Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 29 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Gordon Reid (unattached) – 34 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) – 10 caps

Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) – 5 caps

Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped

Josh Strauss (Sale Sharks) – 22 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Blade Thomson (Scarlets) – uncapped

Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) – 18 caps

George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps

Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 25 caps

Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 43 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

BACKS (17)

Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) – 4 caps

Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons) – 8 caps

Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps

Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) – 67 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps

Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 41 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints) – uncapped

Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 21 caps

Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps

Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 11 caps

Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne) – 71 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 40 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks) – 8 caps

Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 24 caps

Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 44 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 50 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 21 caps

SCOTLAND SUMMER TESTS

Saturday 17 August – France v Scotland; Allianz Riviera, Nice (kick-off 8pm BST, 9pm local time)

Saturday 24 August – Scotland v France; BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh (kick-off 1.10pm)

Saturday 31 August – Georgia v Scotland; Dinamo Arena, Tiblisi (kick-off 5pm BST, 8pm local time)

Friday 6 September – Scotland v Georgia; BT Murrayfield Stadium (kick-off 7.30pm)

SCOTLAND RUGBY WORLD CUP 2019 POOL A FIXTURES (times are local)

Sunday 22 September – Ireland v Scotland; International Stadium, Yokohama (kick-off 4.45pm)

Monday 30 September – Scotland v Samoa; Kobe Misaki Stadium (kick-off 7.15pm)

Wednesday 9 October – Scotland v Russia; Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa (4.15pm)

Sunday 13 October – Japan v Scotland; International Stadium Yokohama (7.45pm)