Two Borderers named in Scotland A match-day squad to play Italian XV this week
Hawick’s Rory Sutherland and Melrose’s Harri Morris have been named in the Scotland A match-day squad taking on an Italy XV away in Rieti in Lazio this Friday.
Glasgow Warrior Sutherland starts at loosehead prop and Morris, a hooker with Warriors’ United Rugby Championship rivals Edinburgh, is one of eight replacements.
They’re the only Borderers in head coach Nigel Carolan’s squad of 23 but former Melrose and Scotland scrum-half Bryan Redpath’s French-born son Cameron is in Friday’s starting XV at inside-centre.
Sutherland, 33, has 46 full caps to his name; Morris, 24, is on one; and Redpath junior, 26, is on 15.
Union Bordeaux Begles lock Jonny Gray is to captain Scotland A this Friday at Stadio Centro d’Italia, with kick-off at 5.30pm.
To be screened live on YouTube, it’s the national team’s reserves’ first match since a 19-17 win against Chile at Edinburgh’s Hive Stadium in November 2024 with Peter Horne as head coach and Morris also played in that one, as a 62nd-minute replacement for Gregor Hiddleston.
Sutherland and Gray’s fellow forwards are Hiddleston, D’Arcy Rae, Alex Craig, Andy Onyeama-Christie, Freddy Douglas and Alexander Masibaka.
Behind them, along with Redpath, will be Harry Paterson, Kyle Rowe, Ollie Smith, Arron Reed, Fergus Burke and Gus Warr.
Sharing the bench with Morris will be Alec Hepburn, Will Hurd, Magnus Bradbury, Euan Ferrie, Josh Bayliss, Ben Afshar and Dan Lancaster.
Warriors attack coach Carolan, 51, to be backed up by fellow Glasgow assistant coach Scott Forrest and Edinburgh assistant coach Stevie Lawrie, said: “It’s a great honour for me to lead Scotland A.
“To be head coach of the Scotland A team is a privilege and something I’ll cherish.
“The match will be beneficial for all involved, giving players the opportunity to play a competitive game against what will be a strong Italy side.
“It’s great to have both Stevie and Scott alongside me in the coaching team. Stevie is well established with Edinburgh and has done a great job with their forwards. He also has good experience with Scotland A, having been in the coaching set-up the year before last. “Having worked with Scott, I’ve seen first hand how professional and detailed he is. He’s doing really well with the defence at Glasgow and I look forward to seeing that transferred to Scotland A.
“We will travel to Rome with the men’s team and that will give our players good exposure to the international set-up as Gregor Townsend’s team prepare for a huge game to open their Six Nations.”