JOHN BARCLAY will continue as captain for Scotland's summer tour after Gregor Townsend named his first squad on Monday.
The head coach has departed Glasgow Warriors to become national head coach this summer, succeeding Vern Cotter in the role, and retained faith in the leadership of the Scarlets flanker.
Barclay took over captaincy duties from Greig Laidlaw during this year's Six Nations Championships after the scrum-half suffered injury during the defeat to France.
With Laidlaw having now been called up to the British and Irish Lions squad as a replacement for England's Ben Youngs, where he will join fellow Scots Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour, Barclay will remain as captain.
Three uncapped players have been brought into the 34-man selection, with Glasgow Warriors pair Nick Grigg and D'Arcy Rae joining Edinburgh hooker George Turner.
Scotland face three tests in three weeks between 10 and 24 June, beginning with a match against Italy in Singapore before away clashes against Australia and Fiji.
Peter Horne and WP Nel return from injury to make the squad after missing the Six Nations, while Glasgow wing Lee Jones, versatile Harlequins back Ruaridh Jackson and Edinburgh scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne earn recalls.
"We’re looking forward to what will be a challenging tour of three different countries, playing three quality sides," Townsend said.
“This tour is all about learning and competing. As a coaching group we will be learning more about our players and how they perform in a different environment against three sides with contrasting styles of play.
“We have assembled a strong squad, and this is an opportunity for them work with us for the first time. We’re going to have three week’s preparation in Scotland before we head overseas, which will enable us to implement the key components of how we will play.
“Ultimately, though, this is a tour that will be about competition – for each individual to compete for a starting place and for them to work hard and find a way to win every time they play.
“Playing Italy in Singapore will be a very different prospect than taking them on in Edinburgh or Rome. It will be a challenge for both teams to adapt to the new surroundings.
“Australia in Sydney in the afternoon is just an excellent fixture against a team that plays some great attacking rugby, while Fiji in Suva will be a huge test for our defence in an environment that we will very rarely play in.”
Townsend will discover his side's World Cup 2019 fate on Wednesday when the draw for the pool stages is made in Kyoto.
The new boss revealed that the showcase tournament was on his mind as he decided on who to bring with him on his first tour.
“The Rugby World Cup certainly features in our thinking as we prepare for this tour,” he explained.
“We’ve looked at a number of players for selection for this squad and there are a few that have missed out on selection, some of whom were very close and will be in our thoughts as we move into next season and as we build towards the World Cup.
“The 34 players named today are selected not just for their form and what they’ve done in a Scotland jersey up to now but for what they can do over the next couple of years.”
SCOTLAND SQUAD – 2017 SUMMER TOUR
FORWARDS (20)
PROP (6)
Alex Allan (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps
Allan Dell (Edinburgh Rugby) – 8 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps
Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 15 caps
D’Arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors) – 24 caps
HOOKER (3)
Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 25 caps
Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) – 107 caps
George Turner (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped
SECOND-ROW (4)
Richie Gray (Toulouse) – 64 caps
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 33 caps
Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 29 caps
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap
BACK–ROW (7)
CAPTAIN John Barclay (Scarlets) – 60 caps
Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap
John Hardie (Edinburgh Rugby) – 15 caps
Rob Harley (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps
Josh Strauss (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 10 caps
Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 27 caps
BACKS (14)
SCRUM-HALF (3)
Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh Rugby) – 9 caps
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps
Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors) – 21 caps
STAND–OFF (2)
Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 23 caps
Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 27 caps
CENTRE (4)
Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors) – 24 caps
Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Matt Scott (Gloucester) – 37 caps
Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 18 caps
BACK-THREE (5)
Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby) – 2 caps
Ruaridh Jackson (Harlequins) – 30 caps
Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps
Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 28 caps
Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 31 caps
Unavailable following British & Irish Lions selection: Stuart Hogg, Greig Laidlaw, Tommy Seymour
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