Borders players to the four in South America rugby squad

Rory Darge (picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images)Rory Darge (picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Rory Darge (picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Four players with Borders credentials have been selected by Scotland rugby head coach Gregor Townsend in a 40-man squad for the summer tour to South America.

The ex-Gala ace has chosen three of the area's forwards – Rory Sutherland, Jamie Bhatti and Rory Darge – with Darcy Graham the sole southerner among the backs.Scotland ‘A’ take on Chile in Santiago on Saturday, June 25 (kick-off 9pm BST) before Scotland play a three-test series against Argentina on Saturdays July 2, July 9 and July 16 (kick-offs 8.10pm BST).Glasgow Warriors’ Rory Darge, the ex-Melrose and Southern Knights back row, who made such a good impression in this year’s Six Nations, is back with the playing group following a spell of injury, along with Worcester Warriors’ prop Rory Sutherland, who previously had spells with Gala and Hawick.

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Another potential choice at prop is ex-Melrose loose head Jamie Bhatti, currently with Glasgow Warriors.Former Hawick winger Darcy Graham, who last weekend marked his 50th appearance for Edinburgh, is named in the backs.Scotland A will kick off the tour, against Chile, with their first competitive fixture since 2014.Chile will use the match as preparation for their Rugby World Cup play-offs against USA after beating Canada last year in an Americas qualifying match.

This will be the first time Chile have played a Six Nations team in more than 60 years and is their first meeting with the Scots at any international level.Townsend’s squad will then travel to Argentina for Scotland’s first three-test series against a Tier 1 side.The last time Scotland played in Argentina was in 2018, following a tour of North America, in a six-try 15-44 win in Resistencia, with George Horne scoring a brace.

The match with Chile is due to be shown live on Premier Sports, while the games against Argentina will be live on Sky Sports.