Cape Town - Gregor Townsend has confirmed new Scotland call-up Blade Thomson will miss the November 3 Test against Wales due to commitments with the Scarlets.
Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac, who will take over from Warren Gatland as Wales coach after the 2019 World Cup, will not release Thomson for the opening November Test as he has already handed 13 members of his squad over to Gatland for that particular fixture.
Scarlets have every right not to release New-Zealand born Thomson as the Scotland-Wales clash falls outside of World Rugby's international calendar.
"The Wales game is outside the World Rugby window," Townsend, who will rely on a Glasgow and Edinburgh combined XV, said.
"Scarlets are playing Edinburgh that weekend so it would be nice of Wayne Pivac to say to Blade 'you are available' but we know that is not going to happen.
"The rules are definitely in place for English and French-based teams and with the PRO14 it is just bad timing that our teams, Glasgow and Edinburgh, plus the Scarlets are playing that weekend otherwise it would be a free weekend."
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