Scotland have named their 19-man squad for Italy Clash with Salford Red Devils player set for key role

Nathan Graham has named his 19-man Scotland squad ahead of their World Cup opener against Italy.

The Bravehearts kick off their campaign against Italy in Newcastle on Sunday looking to get their tournament off to the best possible start.

The squad is boosted by the inclusion of talented NRL back row Euan Aitken, who missed the 2017 tournament through injury as did his back row partner Kane Linnett.

Aitken will be a player to look out for in this Scotland squad as a powerful back row who had a great personal season for the New Zealand Warriors despite the teams overall struggles.

The strong squad boasts a number of experienced Super League players such as Salford Red Devils Ryan Brierley who comes into this tournament off the back of strong season with the Red Devils. He played in 25 games scoring 11 tries for the club as they made the Play Off semi-finals and will be looking to take his strong end of season form into the World Cup.

Super League champion James Bell is also in line to start at loose forward for the Bravehearts after he tasted success in his first season with St Helens and completes a strong Scotland spine which also includes Wakefield Hooker Liam Hood.

See the full 19-man squad below:

2. Matty Russell
3. Ben Hellewell
4. Kieran Buchanan
5. Lachlan Walmsley
6. Bailey Haywood
7. Ryan Brierley
8. Logan Baylis-Brow
9. Liam Hood
10. Sam Luckley
11. Euan Aitken
12. Kane Linnett
13. James Bell
14. Kyle Schneider
15. Luke Bain
16. Jack Teanby
17. Calum Gahan
18. Davey Dixon
19. Bayley Liu
20. Dale Ferguson (C)