Jedburgh’s Glen Young ruled out of rest of Scottish national rugby team’s summer tour by injury, leaving Rory Sutherland and Patrick Harrison as only Borderers in squad

The 29-year-old – given his fourth cap and first start for the tourists’ opening 73-12 win against Canada on Saturday, July 6 – sustained that pectoral injury while training last week.

The Edinburgh lock is one of five players to have left the tour ahead of the Scots’ last two matches in South America, with three new faces heading in the other direction and joining the squad.

The four others released are hooker Robbie Smith, tighthead prop Elliot Millar Mills, stand-off Ross Thompson and winger Ross McCann.

Ex-Melrose player McCann, 26, heads home after making his debut at XVs for Scotland as a 63rd-minute replacement for Gus Warr versus the Canadians.

The newcomers are ex-Southern Knights scrum-half Ben Afshar, Edinburgh lock Rob Carmichael and Glasgow Warriors tighthead prop Fin Richardson.

Young’s departure leaves only two Borderers in head coach Gregor Townsend’s squad, loosehead prop Rory Sutherland and hooker Patrick Harrison.

Sutherland, 31, played for the first 48 minutes of the Scots’ victory over Canada in Ottawa to retain the Douglas Horn Trophy and was brought on as a 51st-minute substitute for Pierre Schoeman during Friday’s 42-7 win against the USA in Washington DC to earn his 32nd cap.

West Linton’s Harrison, 22, has yet to feature in one of the tourists’ match-day squads but is all but guaranteed to earn his first cap before the Scots return home as he’ll be one of only two No 2s left by the time the tour wraps up, along with Edinburgh team-mate Ewan Ashman.

That’s because the Scots’ tour finale versus Uruguay in Montevideo on Saturday, July 27, with kick-off at 8pm, falls outside the international window, ruling out non-Scottish-based players including Northampton Saints’ Robbie Smith and South African Richardson, the only other hookers selected.

Their other remaining match is versus Chile this coming Saturday in Santiago, also with kick-off at 8pm.

Ashman, 24, scored a hat-trick of tries against the Americans, with scrum-half George Horne, No 8 Matt Fagerson and winger Duhan van der Merwe also touching down, the South African’s try equalling the all-time record of 27 set by Hawick’s Stuart Hogg in November 2022. Fly-half Adam Hastings added five conversions and replacement Ross Thompson kicked another.

Centre Tommaso Boni scored their hosts’ only try, converted by fly-half Alan MacGinty.

Looking back over that match, Canadian-born Ashman said he had forwards coach John Dalziel – formerly a flanker for Melrose, Gala and the Border Reivers – and his team-mates to thank for his driving maul-based hat-trick, taking his tally to seven.

“All the credit really goes to the big boys up front pushing me over,” he said.

“I just have the easy job of holding on to the back and then celebrating or thanking the boys for pushing me over, and then credit to John Dalziel as well.

“A lot of work went into them all, so it was good to get a bit of reward there.

“I’m buzzing to have got three over.”