Scotland coach Andy Robinson has kept faith with the squad that upset Ireland in their final Six Nations clash © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Nathan Hines | Andy Robinson

Teams: Argentina | Scotland

Scotland coach Andy Robinson has named a 27-man squad for next month's tour of Argentina.

Leinster lock Nathan Hines was a notable omission from the squad that will tackle the Pumas in Tucuman on June 12 and again in Mar Del Plata a week later with the 33-year-old granted compassionate leave to spend time in his native Australia helping care for his sick mother-in-law. The door has been left open for Hines to join the tour if he should decide to do so.

"He's going back to see his wife, who has been over in Australia nursing her sick mother," head coach Andy Robinson told PA Sport. "It's time for him to be there and if Nathan feels he can come across to Argentina at a later stage then we will leave that open for him to be able to do."

Injured trio Chris Paterson, Thom Evans and Rory Lamont will also miss out while another notable absentee was centre Ben Cairns, with Edinburgh team-mate Jim Thompson preferred. Thompson was the one uncapped player in the squad as Robinson stuck with the 22 who won March's final Six Nations match in Ireland, with five added to that number.

"We are really looking forward to playing against Argentina," commented Robinson. "We have a lot of respect for the way the game is played there and we want to improve upon our success in our most recent game in the Six Nations.

"As well as our two Test matches in Argentina, we will prepare for those contests with our game at Murrayfield against a Japan Select. In addition, there are matches against Georgia, Namibia and Argentina Jaguars for Scotland A in the IRB Nations Cup. So, from my perspective, we are playing six Test matches this summer and that will be reflected when we announce the Scotland A squad next week."

Robinson, who revealed he would consider adding a further player to his squad, has selected three scrum-halves for Argentina, Mike Blair and Rory Lawson joining captain Chris Cusiter. "We want to involve all three. Rory has been playing well and both Mike and Chris have been bothered by niggling injuries over the last few weeks," he explained.

In related news, Glasgow Warriors' head coach Sean Lineen will lead Scotland A in their defence of the Nations Cup, which was won when Robinson was at the helm in Bucharest last June. From the squad that defeated Uruguay, Russia and their French counterparts last year, Alex Grove, Richie Vernon and Kyle Traynor went on to win Scotland caps in the past year, underlining Robinson's stance on the importance of the Scotland A team.

Preparations for both the tour and the IRB Nations Cup will include a Scotland XV against a Japan Select at Murrayfield on June 1.

Backs: Mike Blair (Edinburgh), Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors, captain), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Phil Godman (Edinburgh), Alex Grove (Worcester Warriors), Sean Lamont (Scarlets), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), Graeme Morrison, Dan Parks (both Glasgow Warriors), Hugo Southwell (Stade Francais) and Jim Thompson (Edinburgh)

Forwards: John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie, Kelly Brown (all Glasgow Warriors), Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Jim Hamilton, Allan Jacobsen (both Edinburgh), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Lawson (Gloucester), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh), Euan Murray (Northampton Saints) and Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester).

Note: Both tour matches will be shown live on BBC2 Scotland and will be available to viewers throughout the rest of the UK via interactive.