BORDERER Stuart Hogg has been left out of Scotland’s 40-man squad for their summer tour to South America to give him a much needed rest.

Head Coach Gregor Townsend announced his squad this morning and Edinburgh Rugby’s Grant Gilchrist will take over as captain for the first time since the 2018 Summer Tour fixture against Canada in Edmonton.

Townsend explained that Hogg's absence along with others including talisman Finn Russell was to give them a break for their own benefit after a busy spell.

He said: "Stuart Hogg who is our most capped player has played more minutes than anyone else who is available to us and when you put that on the back of the Lions tour, we believe the best thing for him and others is to rest this summer.

“It will be a big 12-14 months coming up with the World Cup next September so we want our players to be in the best condition. So Stuart and other will get a break this summer and we believe that this will be of benefit to them.”

Fellow Hawick men Rory Sutherland and Darcy Graham have both been included along with former Southern Knight’s flanker Rory Darge.

Scotland A will kick-off the tour with their first competitive fixture since 2014 when they take on Chile.

Townsend’s squad will then travel to Argentina for Scotland’s first three-test series against a Tier 1 side.

The last time Scotland played in Argentina was in 2018, following a tour of North America, in a six-try 15-44 win in Resistencia, with George Horne scoring a brace.

Scotland 2022 Summer Tour Squad: Forwards - Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks) Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby) Dave Cherry (Edinburgh Rugby) Andy Christie (Saracens) Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors) Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) Grant Gilchrist (Captain) (Edinburgh Rugby) Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) Jamie Hodgson (Edinburgh Rugby) Ben Muncaster (Edinburgh Rugby) Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) Javan Sebastian (Scarlets) Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors) George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors) Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) Glen Young (Edinburgh Rugby)

Backs - Mark Bennett (Edinburgh Rugby) Matt Currie (Edinburgh Rugby) Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) Adam Hastings (Gloucester Rugby) George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) Damian Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby) Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints) Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) Huw Jones (Harlequins) Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) Rufus McLean (Glasgow Warriors) Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) Kyle Rowe (London Irish) Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) Ross Thompson (Glasgow Warriors) Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors) Ben White (London Irish)

Chile v Scotland A | Saturday 25 June 2022, kick-off 9pm (UK time) - Estadio Santa Laura Universidad SEK, Santiago, live on Premier Sports

Argentina v Scotland | Saturday 2 July 2022, kick-off 8.10pm (UK time) - Estadio 23 de Agosto, Jujuy, live on Sky Sports

Argentina v Scotland | Saturday 9 July 2022, kick-off 8.10pm (UK time) - Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta, live on Sky Sports

Argentina v Scotland | Saturday 16 July 2022, kick-off 8.10pm (UK time) - The Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago Del Estero, live on Sky Sports