Jon Welsh, the 26-year-old Glasgow Warriors prop, is to join the Scotland tour squad in South Africa as a replacement for Ryan Grant who was enlisted to the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia today.
Welsh, who won his solitary cap to date against Italy in the 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship, will meet up with the Scotland squad in Nelspruit where the second match of the quadrangular tournament against South Africa will take place next Saturday (15 June).
Welsh was in the Scotland tour party last summer to Australasia but a shoulder injury which subsequently required surgery saw him return home prematurely.
He told www.glasgowwarriors.org today: “I’m really honoured and privileged to be called up to the Scotland squad and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve never been to South Africa before, I hear the weather is really good but I’ll be going out to train hard and hopefully get into the (match-day) squad.
“I’d been preparing mentally and physically for pre-season training on Monday with Glasgow but now I’ve had the call-up I’ll need to get my head around flying to South Africa tomorrow and potentially playing for Scotland.
“It’s the ultimate honour to play for your country and represent them so hopefully that can happen when I go out there.”
The recast Scotland team for tomorrows Test against Samoa at Kings Park in Durban (kick-off 2.15pm local, 1.15pm BST, live coverage on BBC Radio Scotland and Sky Sports 2) is:
Greig Tonks (Edinburgh Rugby); Sean Lamont, Alex Dunbar (both Glasgow Warriors), Matt Scott, Tim Visser (both Edinburgh Rugby); Tom Heathcote (Bath Rugby), Greig Laidlaw; Alasdair Dickinson (both Edinburgh Rugby), Pat MacArthur (Glasgow Warriors), Euan Murray (Worcester Warriors), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Alasdair Strokosch (Perpignan), Kelly Brown (Saracens) CAPTAIN, Johnnie Beattie (Montpellier).
Subs: Stevie Lawrie (Edinburgh Rugby), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), Geoff Cross (Edinburgh Rugby), Jim Hamilton (Gloucester Rugby), Ryan Wilson, Henry Pyrgos, Peter Horne (all Glasgow Warriors) and Duncan Taylor (Saracens)
