Scrum half Chris Cusiter will captain a youthful Scotland A squad on their IRB Nations Cup debut in the Romanian capital of Bucharest from 12-21 June 2009.
Cusiter, who will turn 27 during the tournament, has been capped 44 times by Scotland since his debut in February 2004 and his experience will be key for a squad with an average age of only 24.
Scotland A will kick off their Nations Cup campaign against Russia on 12 June at the stadionul National Arcul de Triumf, before tackling Uruguay four days later and France A on 21 June at the same venue.
"Chris is a very talented scrum half and will lead by example on the pitch," said Scotland A head coach Andy Robinson. "Having worked with him on the 2005 Lions Tour, I know how good his management and decision making skills are.
"A strong squad has been selected for the competition with experienced Test players mixed together with up-and-coming young players. I've been to Romania twice before with rugby and I have no doubts everyone involved with the tour will benefit from the experience.
"We have some tough games on our schedule and we are expecting the heat to test our players' fitness, but we are confident that a raft of positives will emerge from the tour.
"We've selected five centres, but I consider them all to be versatile members of the back division and have the ability to fulfil a different role if required."
Scotland A squad for IRB Nations Cup 2009:
Joe Ansbro (Northampton Saints), David Blair (Edinburgh), Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Ben Cairns (Edinburgh), Stuart Corsar (Doncaster Knights), Geoff Cross (Edinburgh), Chris Cusiter (CAPTAIN, Perpignan), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Rob Dewey (Ulster), James Eddie (Glasgow Warriors), Ross Ford (vice captain, Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Alex Grove (Worcester Warriors), Craig Hamilton (Edinburgh), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Al Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), Scott Lawson (Gloucester), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh), Scott Newlands (Edinburgh), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh), Kyle Traynor (Edinburgh), Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors) and Simon Webster (Edinburgh).
