Ex-England wing Ruaridh McConnochie named in Scotland squad of 40

Gregor Townsend has named four new players in his 40-strong Scotland squad for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations, a campaign that begins with the February 4 match away to England at Twickenham. An SRU statement read: “Bath wing Ruaridh McConnochie, Glasgow centre Stafford McDowall and stand-off Ben Healy, who recently agreed on a move to Edinburgh from Munster, are all named in head coach Gregor Townsend’s Scotland selection, with Leicester second row Cameron Henderson also in contention for full international honours.

“McConnochie, who won two caps for England in 2019, is now eligible to be selected due to World Rugby’s eligibility rules allowing a capped player to switch allegiance to another country they are eligible to play for following a three-year cooling off period.

“Healy, who will move to Edinburgh ahead of the 2023/24 season, qualifies through his maternal grandparents, having represented Ireland at U20s level. Second row Cameron Henderson joined Leicester Tigers ahead of the 2020/21 season, having previously been a part of both the Scottish Rugby academy and Stirling County’s Super6 squad. He was selected for the ultimately cancelled 2021 summer squad for matches with England A, Romania and Georgia.

“McDowall has been in great form for Glasgow Warriors this season and recently captained the club for their away win against Perpignan in the European Rugby Challenge Cup.

“In a squad headed up by captain Jamie Ritchie, who led Scotland in all four of the 2022 Autumn Nations Series fixtures, there are returns for experienced players such as Saracens’ Sean Maitland, who has 15 tries from his 53 caps, and centre Huw Jones, who re-joined Glasgow ahead of the current season and will hope to add to his 31 Scotland appearances, and twelve tries.

“There are ten players who have earned at least 50 Scotland caps, with Exeter full-back Stuart Hogg, on 96 appearances for his country, approaching a landmark figure on the eve of the championship.”

Scotland’s Guinness Six Nations squad

Forwards (23):

Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks) 6 caps

Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby) 3 caps

Simon Berghan (Glasgow Warriors) 31 caps

Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) 25 caps

Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) 57 caps

Dave Cherry (Edinburgh Rugby) 8 caps

Andy Christie (Saracens) 4 caps

Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) 2 caps

Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) 4 caps

Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 28 caps

Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 54 caps

Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) 59 caps

Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) 72 caps

Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 69 caps

Cameron Henderson (Leicester Tigers) uncapped

WP Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) 50 caps

Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby) - CAPTAIN - 36 caps

Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 16 caps

Javan Sebastian (Scarlets) 3 caps

Sam Skinner (Edinburgh Rugby) 23 caps

Rory Sutherland (Ulster Rugby) 22 caps

George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 29 caps

Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) 54 caps

Backs (17):

Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby) 39 caps

Ben Healy (Munster Rugby) uncapped

Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) 96 caps

George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 18 caps

Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) 31 caps

Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 38 caps

Sean Maitland (Saracens) 53 caps

Ruaridh McConnochie (Bath Rugby) uncapped

Stafford McDowell (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped

Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) 58 caps

Cameron Redpath (Bath Rugby) 4 caps

Finn Russell (Racing 92) 65 caps

Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) 2 caps

Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 5 caps

Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 11 caps

Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 23 caps

Ben White (London Irish) 9 caps