Hadden to decide on Scotland captaincy

Scotland head coach Frank Hadden will assess the national captaincy on Sunday when he prepares for his first squad training session after his permanent appointment.

The former Edinburgh Gunners boss was named as full-time successor to Matt Williams a fortnight ago and has handed uncapped back-row trio Simon Cross, Paul Dearlove and Andy Miller a chance to impress in his first training squad.

Now, as he prepares for the autumn Test series against New Zealand, Argentina and Samoa in November, the Scotland coach is looking for a new captain after Gordon Bulloch retired from the international scene.

Glasgow Warriors number eight Jon Petrie and Chris Paterson of Edinburgh would be high among the candidates.

But Hadden will discuss the situation with fellow coaches, Hugh Campbell and Steve Bates, before making any permanent decision.

Hadden said: “As far as captaincy is concerned, I will be speaking to my fellow coaches when we gather for the first time on Sunday night.

“We have a number of candidates for captain and we will be assessing leadership qualities and their aptitude for the job during the squad sessions over the next few weeks.”

The Scotland squad for training at Murrayfield on October 3 and 4 is:

Backs: Blair (Edinburgh), Craig (Glasgow), Cusiter (Border), Danielli (Border), Di Rollo (Edinburgh), Henderson (Glasgow), Hinshelwood (Worcester), S Lamont (Northampton), R Lamont (Glasgow), Moffat (Border), Parks (Glasgow), Paterson (Edinburgh), Ross (Leeds), Southwell (Edinburgh), S Webster (Edinburgh).

Forwards: K Brown (Border), Cross (Edinburgh), Dearlove (Glasgow), Douglas (Border), Ford (Border), S Gray (Border), Hall (Edinburgh), Hamilton (Glasgow), Hogg (Edinburgh), Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Kellock (Edinburgh), Kerr (Leeds), Lawson (Glasgow), Miller (Border), Murray (Edinburgh), Smith (Edinburgh), Taylor (Edinburgh), Wilson (Glasgow), White (Sale).