Scrum-half Chris Cusiter has been included in Scotland's 30-man World Cup squad.
Injured Cusiter and uncapped Barclay included
Scotland head coach Frank Hadden believes that his final 30-man squad has the potential to "do something special" at the upcoming World Cup.
Hadden named his squad on Tuesday lunchtime, with Chris Cusiter among those included - the Perpignan scrum-half expected to shake off an ankle injury in time for next month's tournament.
Jason White, himself only recently recovered after a long spell on the sidelines with a cruciate knee ligament injury, captains the squad.
And despite just 10 of those included having previous World Cup experience, only one member, 20-year-old openside flanker John Barclay, is uncapped.
Hadden said: "I have selected a squad that has the ability to do something special at the World Cup and make our country proud. It is the most competitive squad we could muster."
Final cut
Nine players - Simon Danielli, Nick De Luca, Alasdair Dickinson, Thom Evans, Alastair Kellock, Calum MacRae, Graeme Morrison, Gordon Ross and Alasdair Strokosch - did not make the final cut.
The omission of fly-half Ross, who recently joined Saracens from Castres, is perhaps the biggest surprise.
Instead, Chris Paterson will compete with Dan Parks for the number 10 shirt, the former having sealed his place with an impressive showing in Scotland's 31-21 victory against Ireland on Saturday.
"The decision to omit nine players from the squad was tough," Hadden added. "I spoke with all but one of those players face to face yesterday and thanked them for their huge contribution to the preparation for the 2007 Rugby World Cup."
Forward bias
Comprising 13 backs and 17 forwards, the squad errs towards the latter's power.
Hadden explained: "It reflects how tough it's going to be, especially for the forwards playing so many games in such a close period of time, and also reflects on that wee bit more flexibility within the backs.
"It's not an uncommon split."
Hadden also put a gloss on his squad's relative inexperience, adding: "Overall this is a more mature group than we could have chosen two years ago.
"There's a fair amount of experience there and a good balance between the power that was demonstrated in our win against Ireland last weekend and a bit of footballing ability."
Scotland squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup:
Backs: M Blair (Edinburgh), C Cusiter (Perpignan), R Dewey (Ulster), M Di Rollo (Edinburgh), A Henderson (Glasgow Warriors), R Lamont (Sale Sharks), S Lamont (Northampton), R Lawson (Gloucester), D Parks (Glasgow Warriors), C Paterson (Gloucester), H Southwell (Edinburgh), N Walker (Ospreys), S Webster (Edinburgh).
Forwards: J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), K Brown (Glasgow Warriors), D Callam (Edinburgh), R Ford (Glasgow Warriors), J Hamilton (Leicester), N Hines (Perpignan), A Hogg (Edinburgh), A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), G Kerr (Glasgow Warriors), S Lawson (Sale Sharks), S MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), E Murray (Northampton), S Murray (Montauban), C Smith (Edinburgh), S Taylor (Stade Francais), G Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), J White (Sale Sharks, captain).
