| Strokosch will replace Rob Dewey who dislocated his shoulder for the second time this season in Edinburgh’s Heineken Cup loss to London Wasps at the Causeway Stadium last month.
Alasdair is a full-time professional with the Gunners and has played in 12 matches this season for them in the back row and at lock. He made his debut for Scotland 7s at last year’s IRB tournament in Wellington before going on to compete in the IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong, finishing fifth equal.
From Wellington, Strokosch went on to play in the tournaments in Los Angeles, Singapore and London before running out on the international pitch at Murrayfield for the 33-33 draw with Argentina Sevens during November’s Autumn Tests.
On the twelfth man selection, Moffat said: “Alasdair is familiar with our set-up and played in five tournaments last season. He also played in November’s match against Argentina and he has acquitted himself well in international sevens. We need to be physical against sides like Fiji and he’ll bring power and strength. We want to dominate teams in the forwards and he’ll be key to that in Melbourne.”
Strokosch said: “It was a bit of a shock at first but being selected is a massive honour and it’s something that generally only happens once in your career so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a good group of players going out to Melbourne too.
“Playing sevens has really helped my game at XVs. You are exposed a lot more on the pitch so your skills and conditioning are tested. Physically it’s demanding and your fitness is so important but I think it has also given me a lot of confidence too. More players should have a shot to help their development,” he added.
Scotland face Fiji, Canada and Zambia in the pool round at the Games, held on 16 and 17 March at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome.
SCOTLAND 7s SQUAD FOR THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Mark Lee (King’s Own Scottish Borderers) CAPTAIN, Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Gunners and Stewart’s Melville FP), Oli Brown (Boroughmuir), David Gray (Exeter Chiefs), Alasdair Strokosch (Edinburgh Gunners), Rory Lawson (Edinburgh Gunners), Ciaran Beattie (Border Reivers and Selkirk), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors and Watsonians), Clark Laidlaw (Jed-Forest), Ali Warnock (Nottingham), Andrew Turnbull (Watsonians) and Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Gunners)
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