Edinburgh Rugby hooker Stuart McInally will captain Scotland at the World Cup in Japan this month after being chosen ahead of John Barclay and Greig Laidlaw by head coach Gregor Townsend Tuesday.
Centres Huw Jones and Rory Hutchinson missed out along with forwards Josh Strauss, Matt Fagerson and Magnus Bradbury in the 31-man squad for the tournament in Japan.
“Stuart has done a really good job in the opportunities he’s had to captain Scotland,” Townsend, who in total named 13 players with previous World Cup experience, said in a statement.
“He captained Edinburgh last season and is a real lead-by-example player, both in training and in games. He’s a calming influence and is very good at bringing the best out of others.”
Scotland, quarter-finalists in 2015, kick off their campaign in Pool A against Ireland on Sept. 22 before matches against Samoa, Russia and hosts Japan.
Forwards:
John Barclay (Edinburgh), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors), Allan Dell (London Irish), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Stuart McInally (capt) (Edinburgh), WP Nel (Edinburgh), Gordon Reid (Ayrshire Bulls), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), Blade Thomson (Scarlets), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh), George Turner (Glasgow Warriors), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors).
Backs:
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh), Chris Harris (Gloucester), Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors), Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs), George Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors), Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne), Sean Maitland (Saracens), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors), Finn Russell (Racing 92), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Taylor (Saracens)