Scotland announce Six Nations squad

Gregor Townsend has named four uncapped players in a 40-man Scotland squad for the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations Championship.

The potential debutants are Edinburgh Rugby trio Blair Kinghorn (full-back) [pictured right], scrum-half Nathan Fowles and prop Murray McCallum, plus Glasgow Warriors prop D’arcy Rae.

Kinghorn, McCallum and Rae are all graduates of the BT Sport Academy.

The squad is also boosted by the return of several experienced players, absent from recent campaigns, including scrum-half Greig Laidlaw (ASM Clermont Auvergne), lock Richie Gray (Toulouse), centres Mark Bennett (Edinburgh Rugby) and Duncan Taylor (Saracens); and Worcester Warriors back-row David Denton.

Laidlaw, Gray and Bennett haven’t featured for the dark blues since last year’s championship, while it was 2015 when returning prop Jon Welsh last saw international action and longer still for veteran hooker Scott Lawson (2014).

A sequence of untimely injuries has meant Denton has been absent from test duty since the 2016 summer tour to Japan, while Taylor and London Irish prop Gordon Reid missed the 2017 autumn test campaign with a knee and head injury respectively.

Scarlets back-row John Barclay will continue to captain the side since taking on the mantle from Laidlaw in last year’s championship, leading Scotland to victories in six of nine test matches.

Scotland Head Coach Gregor Townsend, said: “With the announcement of this 40-man squad, we are now entering the key stages of our preparation for this year’s NatWest 6 Nations Championship.

“It’s a bigger squad than we originally planned –which is largely down to the competition for places – with a number of players having performed well in the Autumn Tests and a few others putting their hands up for selection in recent weeks.

“We welcome Blair Kinghorn into our group for the first time, who has been in excellent form with Edinburgh this season, and also three of our most experienced players in Richie Gray, Greig Laidlaw and Scott Lawson.

“We are looking forward to working with them and the rest of the squad to ensure that we build on the momentum the players generated in 2017.”

In addition to the squad, three players have been invited to train with the group: Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) and Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors).

SCOTLAND SQUAD FOR 2018 NATWEST 6 NATIONS

BACKS (19)

Mark Bennett (Edinburgh Rugby) – 20 caps

Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors) – 28 caps

Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – 1 cap

Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons) – 1 cap

Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 55 caps

Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 28 caps

Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors) – 32 caps

Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps

Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps

Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped

Greig Laidlaw (ASM Clermont Auvergne) – 58 caps

Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 29 caps

Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks) – 2 caps

Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps

Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors) – 27 caps

Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 32 caps

Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 39 caps

Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 21 caps

Nathan Fowles (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped

FORWARDS (21)

John Barclay CAPTAIN (Scarlets) – 66 caps

Simon Berghan (Edinburgh Rugby) – 5 caps

Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps

Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby) – 2 caps

David Denton (Worcester Warriors) – 35 caps

Cornell Du Preez (Edinburgh Rugby) – 5 caps

Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – 18 caps

Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 38 caps

Richie Gray (Toulouse) – 64 caps

Luke Hamilton (Leicester Tigers) – 1 cap

Rob Harley (Glasgow Warriors) – 20 caps

Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons) – 46 caps

Murray McCallum (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped

Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 12 caps

Gordon Reid (London Irish) – 27 caps

D’arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped

Ben Toolis (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps

George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) – 2 caps

Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 15 caps

Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons) – 11 caps

Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 32 caps