Former Scotland captain Stuart McInally’s rugby career is over after he was left out of Gregor Townsend’s 33-man World Cup squad.

The 33-year-old, who skippered his country in Japan four years ago, was one of four players cut from Townsend’s training squad ahead of the tournament which kicks off in France next month.

Murphy Walker, Josh Bayliss and Jamie Dobie were the others to miss out, with McInally now retiring from the sport after 49 international appearances to focus on a new career as an airline pilot.

Jamie Ritchie captains the squad, which includes 14 players each from Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby.

Scotland take on South Africa in their World Cup Pool B opener on 10 September, with Tonga, Romania and Ireland to follow.

Scotland squad:

Forwards: Ewan Ashman, Jamie Bhatti, Dave Cherry, Luke Crosbie, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Richie Gray, WP Nel, Jamie Ritchie (c), Pierre Schoeman, Javan Sebastian, Sam Skinner, Rory Sutherland, George Turner, Hamish Watson.

Backs: Darcy Graham, Blair Kinghorn, Chris Harris, Ben Healy, George Horne, Huw Jones, Ali Price, Cameron Redpath, Finn Russell, Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Ben White.