Scotland have drawn together a 45-man ‘trial squad’ as they begin preparations for the Wellington Festival in April.

The trial will take place at Lochinch in Glasgow this Sunday, with those selected then forming the Scotland U16 Development Squad.

It will take the form of a morning training and skills session before a full match will take place in the afternoon, from which the 26-man squad to head to Wellington will be selected.

The squad, led by Head Coach Gary Mercer and his assistants, Roddy Deans, Jamie Dempsey, and Dave Butcher, will attend two training camps in Fife later in the month, which will include a training game against Newcastle U16s before they head down for the Wellington Festival.

Of the 45-man trial squad, Mercer said:

“We’ve invited a group of players to attend the trial on Sunday, which is the next part of the process to finalise the 26-man squad for the Wellington Festival next month.”

“These players have all put their hands up for selection following the recent pro-alignment fixtures and we’re really excited about the potential within the group.”

Elsewhere, the Scotland U18 side lost 28-6 to their English counterparts on Sunday, you can read the full story of that game here: Scotland U18 v England U18.

Scotland U16 Trialists:

Graham Allan (St Columba’s School), Hamish Bain (Portobello High School), Paul Cairncross (East Kilbride / Calderglen High School), Kenneth Drummond (George Watson’s College), Ross Dunbar (Linlithgow Academy / Linlithgow RFC), Matthew Fagerson (Dundee Eagles / Strathallan School), Ewan Fox (Dundee Eagles / High School of Dundee), Keir Hail-Brown (Stirling County RFC / McLaren High School), Gregor Haldane (Stirling County / Dollar Academy), Andrew Horne (Preston Lodge RFC / Preston Lodge High School), Charlie Lonergan (GHA / St Aloysius College), Michael Manning (Ayr RFC), Ross McCann (Royal HIgh Cougars / Royal High School), Gary Munro (Jed Thistle RFC / Jedburgh Grammar School), Mark New (Mackie RFC / Mackie Acadmey) Matthew Northcote (Ardrossan Academicals / St Matthew’s Academy), Gregor Paxton (Kilmarnock RFC / Grange Academy), Charlie Shiel (Royal High Cougars / Royal High School), Bruce Sorbie (Robert Gordons College / Robert Gordons College), Aaron Tait (Ayr RFC / Wellington School), Kyle Wood (Marr RFC / Marr College), Sam Yawayawa (Boroughmuir RFC / Firhill High School), Finlay Richardson (Merchiston Castle School), Callum Eastwood (George Watson’s College), Lachlan Menzies (Perthshire Rugby Club / Breadalbane Academy), Campbell Duns (North Berwick RFC / Edinburgh Academy), Rehan Baig (Dundee Eagles / High School of Dundee), Lloyd Clark (Moffat RFC / Austin Friars), Cammy Hutchison (North Berwick RFC / North Berwick High School), Robbie Yourston (Jed Thistle RFC / Jedburgh Grammar School), Thomas Klein (Melrose / Earlston High School), Ben Appleson (Edinburgh Academy), Callum Braid (Moffat / Langholm U16 / Moffat Academy), Ewan Malloch (George Watson’s College), George Blackwell (Kirkham Grammar School / Kirkham Grammar School), Jamie Ross (Gibraltar Barbarians / Bayside Comprehensive School), Ralph Johnston (Wigton RUFC / Nelson Tomlinson School), Alan Gregory (Cambridge RUFC / Kings, Ely), Hugh Buchanan (Ampleforth College / Ampleforth College), George Bordill (Sandbach RUFC / Sandbach School), Ben Scoular (Old Leamingtonians RFC / Warwick School), Harry Warr (Bowdon Rugby Club / Tarporley High School), Euan Ogilvie Kelly (Lincoln RFC / The Priory Academy LSST), Finlay Sharp (Painswick RFC / Rednock School), Liam Cook (Redingensians RFC / London Wasps Academy / Bradfield College)