Captain Stuart Hogg and talisman Finn Russell have been left out of Scotland’s 40-man squad for their summer tour to South America.
The pair have played a lot of rugby over the past year and were part of the British and Irish Lions squad last summer.
However, both were also among a group of six players involved in a disciplinary issue following the Italy match in the Six Nations in March, which raised questions over whether Hogg would retain the captaincy going forward.
Edinburgh lock Grant Gilchrist has been named skipper for the upcoming tour, which will include an ‘A’ match against Chile later this month and three Tests against Argentina in July.
Chris Harris, who was also part of the British and Irish Lions set-up last year, is not in the squad, but fellow Lions Hamish Watson, Ali Price, Duhan van der Merwe and Zander Fagerson have all been included by Gregor Townsend.
Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson, Rory Sutherland and Jamie Bhatti are all back in the squad after injury, while Jonny Gray is also involved after missing the majority of the Six Nations.
Edinburgh trio Ben Muncaster, Glen Young and Matt Currie, along with London Irish’s Kyle Rowe and Glasgow duo Murphy Walker and Ollie Smith are the uncapped players who have been selected.
