Coach Ian McGeechan has lalso eft New Zealand-born utility back Brendan Laney and hooker Steve Scott out of his 22-man squad, with Australian-born lock Nathan Hines (Edinburgh), Bordeaux-Begles centre James McLaren and Saracens hooker Robbie Russell coming in. Scrum half Brian Redpath retains the captaincy.
“I don’t think people should read too much into this,” McGeechan said of dropping Test veteran Murray, who has been Scotland’s player of the year for the past two seasons.
“Scott Murray is a world class performer and still has a very important part to play in Scottish rugby.”
But Nathan has put in two fine performances for the A team, as has James in the midfield, and they deserve a chance.”
The Scotland squad to play Wales in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at Murrayfield on March 8 is as follows…
Scotland squad:
Backs: M Blair (Edinburgh Rugby), A Craig (Orrell), K Logan (London Wasps), J McLaren (Bordeaux-Begles), G Metcalfe (Glasgow Rugby), C Paterson (Edinburgh Rugby), B Redpath (Sale Sharks, capt), G Ross (Leeds Tykes), G Townsend (The Borders), K Utterson (The Borders).
Forwards: G Bulloch (Glasgow Rugby), B Douglas (The Borders), S Grimes (Newcastle Falcons), N Hines (Edinburgh Rugby), G Kerr (Leeds Tykes), M Leslie (Edinburgh Rugby), A Mower (Newcastle Falcons), J Petrie (Glasgow Rugby), R Russell (Saracens), T Smith (Northampton Saints), S Taylor (Edinburgh Rugby), J White (Glasgow Rugby).
