The Scottish trio, Darcy Graham, Rory Sutherland and Ewan Ashman, have been called up to the British and Irish Lions squad as cover.
The wing, loosehead prop and hooker were with Gregor Townsend’s squad in New Zealand while preparing to play Samoa in Auckland on Saturday.
They have been drafted in to make up the Lions squad to face the Pasifika XV in Melbourne next Tuesday.
Leinster and Ireland prop, Thomas Clarkson, was called up on Sunday for the same reason. The Geography Four, as they’re sure to be termed, will mean that Test players can be completely rested against the Pasifika side.
Graham, who was given two yellows and sent-off against Fiji in Suva on Saturday, will not have to endure a suspension and will join the Lions party in Brisbane later on Monday while Sutherland and Ashman will arrive in Melbourne at the weekend. When they’re all in situ, Andy Farrell’s squad will rise to 44 players, with 11 Scots now in the group.
Graham has been in terrific form and was deemed unlucky to miss out on the original selection. Sutherland is already a Lions player, having played in two Tests, and in six games overall, in South Africa four years ago. Ashman made his Scotland debut against the Wallabies in November 2021.
Scotland won 15-13 and the hooker scored the decisive try. Farrell’s move to draft in extra players is a repeat of Warren Gatland’s controversial ‘Geography Six’ move in New Zealand in 2017 when half a dozen players, including Finn Russell, were parachuted in to play provincial opposition thereby giving the Test men a rest.
