David Barnes: Javan Sebastian as close as this selection got to a ‘bolter’

Scotland's Javan Sebastian and Antoine Dupont of France. Pic Credit ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

The Toony Tombola appears to have finally rolled to a standstill.

Gregor Townsend ‘s penchant for wild selection curveballs were a running joke during the early years of his tenure as Scotland head coach, but there was no real sense of mystery ahead of Wednesday's World Cup squad announcement, and no great surprises when he confirmed the 33 names he has booked on to that flight to France at the start of next month.

That constant chopping and changing during the period between Townsend pretty much snatching the reins out of Vern Cotter’s hands in the summer of 2017 pretty much through to his, frankly, flabbergasting, decision to leave Finn Russell out of his initial squad for the 2022 Autumn Tests, has given away to a sort of consistency which might even be described as predictable.

It seems unlikely that he has undergone a complete metamorphosis in personality and coaching philosophy during the last 10 months, so perhaps a more reasonable assessment is that there was at least some previously unseen method in his madness during the four years since the last World Cup – a chastening experience for Townsend – which we Scots are now beginning to see the fruits of.

Maybe Townsend’s dropping of Russell last Autumn wasn’t so daft after all. Maybe it was a necessary full-stop for a period in their relationship where the player and the coach could not see eye to eye.

A moment when both headstrong individuals had a chance to reflect on how important their being on the same page is to the fortunes of their national team, whether they like it or not.

Certainly, the talismanic stand-off returned as a reinvigorated character who has since produced not only his best individual form in a Scotland jersey of his career, but also a level of leadership which led to him being named captain of the side for the warm-up match against France at Murrayfield a week last Saturday.

With Russell loading the bullets and firing a fair few himself, Scotland are playing with ambition, confidence and, perhaps most importantly, clarity of purpose – which only comes from every member of the group, and especially the leaders, being totally comfortable in the environment they are operating within.

Having named a squad of 41 at the start of the summer, four players had already been shed by the time Townsend got down to finalising his 33 at the start off this week, with one hooker, one tight-head prop, one back-row and one scrum-half in the firing line.

Veteran No 2 Stuart McInally misses out on one final trot around the paddock before hanging up his boots to focus on completing his qualifications as a commercial airline pilot.

The 33-year-old – who endured a torrid 2019 World Cup as captain of the squad and ended up being dropped for that final defeat against Japan – would have loved to bow out on his own terms, but George Turner and Ewan Ashman were always going to make the cut, while Dave Cherry is arguably the best technical hooker at Townsend’s disposal and plays with the intensity of a man who had to do it the hard way for four seasons in the lower leagues of England and France before finally being given his shot with Edinburgh (and then Scotland) in his late 20s.

It wouldn’t be a miscarriage of justice if the 32-year-old were to emerge as Scotland’s main man in the middle of the front row during this tournament.

Meanwhile, Javan Sebastian – born in England, raised in Wales and eligible for Scotland through a father who still lives in Edinburgh – is as close as this squad selection got to a ‘bolter’.

He has apparently revelled in the intensity of a World Cup training camp having been a bit-part player with Scarlets (before his move to Edinburgh this summer), and Townsend revealed that his big scrummaging performance off the bench against Italy two weekends ago pretty much secured his place there and then as third tight-head prop in the group ahead of Muprhy Walker.

Josh Bayliss, who was a late call-up to the training squad, was the back-row who missed out, while youngster Jamie Dobie’s time will come but Ben White, Ali Price and George Horne were too well-established at scrum-half for him to sneak in at this early stage in his career.