SCOTLAND HAVE WELCOMED back Richie Gray to their Six Nations squad as they look to build on victory over England by derailing Ireland’s title bid.
Gray did not feature in Scotland’s opening three matches of the tournament due to a calf injury, but he successfully came through 80 minutes for Toulouse on Saturday in the Top 14.
That was clearly enough to convince Gregor Townsend he was ready for an international recall, the lock one of 10 new faces for their trip to Dublin on Saturday [KO 2.15pm, TV3].
As well as the returning Gray, Scotland also welcome back Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson and Alex Dunbar, while there is a first senior call-up for George Horne.
Edinburgh back-row John Hardie is part of Townsend’s initial 40-man squad as Scotland look to cause another upset at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.
Scotland squad:
Forwards: John Barclay, Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti, Magnus Bradbury, Fraser Brown, David Denton, Cornell du Preez, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Richie Gray, Luke Hamilton, John Hardie, Scott Lawson, Darryl Marfo, Stuart McInally, Willem Nel, Gordon Reid, Tim Swinson, Ben Toolis, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson.
Backs: Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar, Nick Grigg, Chris Harris, Stuart Hogg, George Horne, Pete Horne, Ruaridh Jackson, Huw Jones, Lee Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Greig Laidlaw, Sean Maitland, Byron McGuigan, Ali Price, Henry Pyrgos, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour.
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Good piece and great to see him doing so well, Munster are certainly in the upper tier of teams in Europe and a real handful at home but the crunch needed against the power teams in a semi or final they are a bit away. This new setup will take time and will have its down days but with the right acquisitions and leadership they could be there in a couple of years.
@mrbryanrussell: What Munster have been missing from the past 8 years is what it is needed to win a Champions cup/ Heinekin Cup – a world class 7 and world class 10. Unfortunately Munster have have just a series of bad luck in this department – constant injuries to TOD, Bleyendaal and now Cloete and Carbery have knocked their season and when you’re relying on 2nd and 3rd choice players in these positions it is highly unlikely you will make it all the way to the final in May.
There’s always a reaction when Munster don’t do well, especially from certain quarters within and outside rugby who like to twist the knife when they get the opportunity.
However Munster are still not far off making a breakthrough but there are a few things needed for that to happen in my opinion.
The new coaching staff and shift in playing style needs to bed in.
We desperately need some players of the right quality to come through the academy. When I say “the right quality” I don’t mean simply international quality but players made out of the same stuff as Clohessy, Galway, Foley, Quinlan, Stringer, ROG etc.
Players who are 100% Munster and would see pulling on the red jersey (of Munster!!) as the greatest honour imaginable.
It might be a big ask now that we’re so removed from the amateur era but a couple of players like that would be gold dust.
We need to shift away from the notion that the HC is the only thing that matters. Too many times in recent years we’ve shot ourselves in the foot by putting ourselves in a poor position in the Pro14 by going after a European Cup we were never likely to win.
Build towards making ourselves as good as anyone in the league, win it and evolve from there.
We need to ensure that any players that are brought in from outside, either IQ or not, are of the required quality and willing to give 100% to Munster.
And probably above all else we need a bit of luck, especially with injuries.