SCOTLAND HEAD COACH Vern Cotter has selected uncapped 20-year-old Adam Ashe at No. 8 in his starting XV to face South Africa on Saturday [KO 4.00pm Irish time].
While the Springboks have a 20-year-old debutant of their own in out-half Handré Pollard, Ashe’s rise to full international honours has been perhaps less expected than that of the IRB Junior Player of the Year.
The Glasgow Warriors-contracted back row only joined Cotter’s squad last weekend when he travelled from New Zealand, where he is midway through a scholarship programme with the Canterbury RFU International High Performance Unit.
Scotland internationals John Barclay, Grant Gilchrist, Finn Russell and Jonny Gray have all come through the same scholarship, with Ashe clearly reaping similar benefits to those alumni in the past two months spent in New Zealand.
Having come through the age grade sides with Scotland, Ashe was playing at the Junior World Championship [U20] as recently as 2013. Importantly, he has also represented his country extensively in the IRB World Sevens Series.
Ashe has made only two Pro12 appearances for Glasgow in the last two seasons, but Cotter has been impressed by what he has seen from and heard about the No. 8.
He is a talented player and the reports of his form in New Zealand have been very positive,” Cotter told Scottish Rugby. “He’s trained well with us and looked sharp. He is a specialist No. 8 and this is a golden opportunity for him.”
Elsewhere, Henry Pyrgos starts at scrum-half instead of Grayson Hart, Tim Swinson comes in for Gray in the second row, and Chris Fusaro is promoted from the bench to take the place of Blair Cowan.
There may be a second debutant for the Scots on Saturday if Tyrone Holmes is used off the bench. The Glasgow Warriors back row would be making his first international appearance against his native country if that proves the case.
Scotland: Stuart Hogg; Sean Maitland, Nick De Luca, Peter Horne, Tommy Seymour; Duncan Weir, Henry Pyrgos; Al Dickinson, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross; Tim Swinson, Grant Gilchrist (capt.); Rob Harley, Chris Fusaro, Adam Ashe.
Replacements: Kevin Bryce, Moray Low, Euan Murray, Jonny Gray, Tyrone Holmes, Grayson Hart, Dougie Fife, Peter Murchie.
Won’t be the last
@Brian Carr: If spurs don’t get supporters into their ground fast they are in big trouble….a massive shiny new stadium with the massive bills that come with it. Liverpool’s owners again showing they are proper business men not gambling on a massive loan to buy a new stadium, they are improving Anfield in manageable stages smart men!
@Peter Hughes: Joseph Lewis owns Tottenham and is worth is around 4billion so I dont think Spurs are in too much trouble for a long time yet.
@Peter Coen: So why did they need to get a 175 million loan from the UK government?
@Peter Coen: they also borrowed over £100m to see them through the current situation. They’ll not be stuck.
@Peter Hughes: and CHAMPIONS!
@Wheresmyjumper: Probably is not really explaining it.
@Wheresmyjumper: Probably the same reason wigan went under, they probably have owners with money but they are not willing to take the hit and are just letting the club sink…..who says the Spurs owner will pump hundreds of millions of his own money in when all the debt is probably under the clubs name, perhaps he will just walk away a bit like the ex Liverpool owners nearly put the club into administration.
@Wheresmyjumper: Wrong move by LFC but they never received a penny in furlough.
@Peter Coen: Yes but he isnt going to keep sinking money into a black hole
Feel sorry for the staff. Only in the prem 7 years ago. Goes to show how bad some of these clubs are been run. Wign are a big enough club to have survived this pandemic if it was run properly the last few years.
@Ken: it’s also a relatively low debt
@Ken: Wigan fans never backed the clubs success or PL journey in sufficient numbers….always a joke following. Basically Dave Whelans play thing till he got bored or saw what was heading down the line….
Wigan has always been a rugby league town. Could never get close to filling their 25k seater stadium during 8 seasons in the premier league.
@Fergus O’Connor: Interesting that since their record tickets sold is 25,133 against United when they were in the Premier League, that’s 5 off the max capacity.
@Marcus Suridius: Their averages every season were 5-7k below capacity
It’s only the beginning, the efl was already a ticking financial time bomb ready to go off before corona and lock down, clubs barely afford to pay wages and staff along with bills. And now with large crowds a long way off being allowed into stadiums till close to or after the new year, clubs like Wigan will struggle to even get the cash flow needed to start the new season while just about finishing this one
Not a fan but sad to hear
Only taken over by new owners 4 weeks ago!!
I remember wigans first season in the p league under Paul Jewell they done incredible to be in the top 10. Amazing what a few years can do in football
Sure a professional football player only costs about £100,000,000 nowadays
@Tony O Neill:
That is precisely the problem!
Relative to Total Income, transfer fees and player wage costs are out of sync with reality for many clubs in the upper tiers of English football.
Covid-19 lockdown hasn’t helped.
Classic catch22 situation; no investment to acquire quality players, the club slides down the divisions; if investment available… lots of income absorbed in higher wages; no dyed in the wool fan base, poor gate receipts from season tickets.
Clubs with good academies, bringing on young talent, seem to do best, plus the ones owned by the Billionaires
Not for the feint hearted, such investments!
And so it begins
All the little Pie-Eaters will start supporting the Manchester teams now.
@Ian Heaton: they do anyway and that’s the problem.
I can never understand why the F.A penalise the club and players and supporter who are probably innocent of all the dealings and the owners get away scot free