Kiwi Scotland coach under fire for picking Scottish Kiwi

John Hardie has been named in the Scotland squad. Photo / Getty

Scotland's Kiwi coach Vern Cotter is reportedly under fire for the rapid promotion of import John Hardie into their World Cup squad.

Former Scottish prop Peter Wright, a British Lion to New Zealand in 1993, has bee quoted by the MailOnline as saying the snub to homegrown talent is a "disgrace".

Wright, who is often quoted on Scottish rugby matters, has attacked the import policy before, saying former Highlanders loose forward Hardie only became interested in Scotland when it was clear he wouldn't be an All Black.

"Here is a player who always made it clear he wanted to play for New Zealand...bringing him into the set-up is demeaning the Scotland jersey," Wright told the Scotland Daily Mail.

Former test wing Kenny Logan is another critic, saying: "I don't blame the players but it doesn't feel right."

Ironically, Cotter has bladed another New Zealand-born lose forward Blair Cowan to make way for Hardie.

But this is hardly likely to placate the critics, since Cowan was a constant Scottish selection this year whereas Hardie - who has a Scottish grandmother - only arrived in Scotland in July and has played just one test against Italy, a World Cup warm-up game.

"That's part of the job (although) it's not particularly nice," said Cotter, on telling the likes of Cowan he had been dumped.

"We felt that John gave us that specialist seven role and we have other players who have the versatility to cover if necessary."

Cotter also picked South Africa-born No. 8 Josh Strauss, who qualifies via residency five days before the first game against japan.