Scotland have made a late change to their team for tomorrow’s EMC Test against Tonga at Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen.
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Ryan Grant (Glasgow Warriors), the loosehead prop, has not recovered from a calf injury sustained against South Africa last week. His place in the starting XV will be taken by Kyle Traynor, 26, (Bristol Rugby) who won the last of his three Scotland caps in the corresponding autumn matches three years ago. Gordon Reid, the 25-year-old Glasgow Warriors prop, a product of the Ayr club, has been called on to the bench. It will be the uncapped Reid’s first involvement in a match-day 23.
Scotland Team
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Max Evans, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 David Denton, 7 Kelly Brown 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 John Barclay, 21 Rory Lawson, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Nick De Luca.
Kyle Traynor
| Club |
Bristol |
| Date of Birth |
27/02/86 |
| Height |
1.83m |
| Weight |
113 kg |
| Scotland caps |
3 |
| Scotland A caps |
8 |
Kyle Traynor made his Scotland debut as a replacement in the 23-10 win against Fiji in the Bank of Scotland Corporate Autumn Test in November 2009, and he also played off the bench in Scotland’s two other matches in that Murrayfield series, including the historic win against Australia.
His elevation to the national team follows just nine months after his first appearance for Scotland A. Previously he had played for Scotland at under-19 and under-21.
His Scotland A debut was as a replacement in the 22-22 draw with Italy A at McDiarmid Park, Perth, in February 2009. Two more A international appearances followed with tight-head starts in the wins against Russia and France in the IRB Nations Cup success in Bucharest in June 2009. Kyle played both A games in February 2010 against Ireland A and Italy A, and also faced Argentina Jaguars at the IRB Nations Cup that summer. He returned to A service against USA Eagles at Netherdale that November, scoring a try in the process, and came off the bench in the 11-3 win over Italy A in February 2011.
His Scotland under-21 debut was as a replacement in the Falkirk match against France in February 2006, which he followed up with further substitute appearances against Wales, England, and Ireland and then five games in the age group’s world championship in France. His under-19 honours included captaining Scotland in four games in the 2005 IRB world championship in Durban, South Africa. In February 2007 he played as a replacement in the under-20 international against England at Bath, and a week later he was the starting tight-head prop in the Falkirk match against Wales.
While still aged 19, he was on the bench for the Celtic League match against Cardiff at The Arms Park in 2006. In May that year he made his debut for Edinburgh as a replacement in the Celtic League game against Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade, and after he had led Watsonians to second place in the 2007-2008 Scottish Hydro Electric Premier One division he was awarded a full-time contract by Edinburgh. But he had to wait until January 2009 for his first start, when Edinburgh visited Dublin for a Heineken Cup match against Leinster at the RDS.
Kyle, a former pupil of John Fisher School (London), qualifies for Scotland through Glasgow-born parents. He joined Bristol Rugby from Edinburgh Rugby at the start of this season.