MacLeod left out of Scotland squad

Suspended forward Scott MacLeod was an expected omission from the Scotland squad announced today for the autumn internationals against New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.

The Llanelli Scarlets lock, 29, was last night revealed to have failed a drugs test and has been banned from competitive rugby pending an investigation.

MacLeod, who has 21 caps, was one of 16 players axed from the 50-man training party called up last month, which has also lost four players to injury.

The only new name in the 31-man squad announced by head coach Frank Hadden today was Northampton flanker Scott Gray, who has done enough in the last month to earn a recall four years after his only cap.

A year ago, Gray was in the midst of a 10-month contract with Doncaster in National League One, and his performances against Northampton led to him being snapped up by the club.

“I’m really enjoying being at the Saints,” said the 30-year-old, who was born in Zimbabwe and qualifies for the national team courtesy of a Scottish father.

“I’ve played at openside and have been getting plenty of game time.”

Gray is one of eight Guinness Premiership stars selected, with Hadden electing to drop only three of the original 10 who were at the centre of the Scottish Rugby Union’s recent row with English clubs over player release.

Despite being uncapped, Glasgow back Max Evans and Edinburgh prop Geoff Cross, both 25, made today’s cut.

Dave Callam (Edinburgh), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh) and Fergus Thomson (Glasgow) were all ruled out through injury.

Glasgow captain Alastair Kellock was arguably the most high-profile omission for a set of matches which will determine Scotland’s ranking going into the 2011 World Cup draw.

Hadden said: “We know the huge importance of our November matches given the draw for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and at this stage I’m pleased at the competition we have for places.

“Twenty three of the squad were with us in Argentina during the summer, including Max Evans and Geoff Cross, and we’ve been impressed especially by the manner in which Max and Geoff have raised their game this season.

“We’ve also been watching Scott Gray closely at Northampton, where he’s put in some great shifts at openside.”

The Scotland-based players will convene on Monday at a warm-weather training camp in Spain, while the rest of the squad will be able to join them two days later, 12 days before the opening Test against the All Blacks on November 8.

But Hadden could lose his eight Premiership players for five days during that period, with the International Rugby Board recently ruling their clubs could recall them to play in EDF Energy Cup matches on the weekend of November 1.

There is also a potential row brewing with Welsh clubs, who said they would not release players for the training camp.

The SRU are seeking clarification from the IRB on the matter.

Apart from MacLeod, the only member of the original 50 selected last month who plays for a Welsh region is Nikki Walker, but he was omitted today.

Hadden defended the camp, saying: “This is the best route to maximise the limited time we have together for the matches against the All Blacks, Springboks and Canada.

“Our training facilities on the back pitches at Murrayfield are currently being enhanced and are thus out of the equation, so we have identified the warm-weather camp in Spain as the ideal route.”