1
Scotland name 38-man squad for the Six Nations
By Online Editors
Scotland boss Gregor Townsend has named a 38-man squad for the 2020 Guinness Six Nations that will be skippered by Stuart Hogg.
The two-time championship player of the tournament (2016 and 2017) and British and Irish Lion is the most experienced player in the group selected by Townsend, starting 71 of his 72 caps to date.
Reflecting on the appointment, Townsend said: “Stuart is very passionate about playing for Scotland and he’s determined to do all he can to improve Scotland. He really cares about playing for his country, what the jersey represents and also getting the best out of his teammates.
“He’s a really intelligent rugby player who’s is learning and improving with every season. He’s very good at bringing others into the game and building relationships with those around him.
“He’s very well respected by our coaching and playing group but that isn’t based on the accolades he’s earned. It’s more about what he does every day at training.
(Continue reading below...)
“He brings energy, is very accurate, he stays out longer to work on his game and more often than not he’s the loudest player on the field, guiding or congratulating his teammates."
The squad includes six uncapped players – four forwards and two backs: Glasgow Warriors trio Tom Gordon (back row), Kyle Steyn (wing/centre) and Ratu Tagive (wing) are joined by Edinburgh back row pair Luke Crosbie and Nick Haining, with Gloucester’s former Scotland under-20s lock, Alex Craig, completing the group.
The squad also features the return of Edinburgh pair Matt Scott (centre) and Rory Sutherland (prop) – who last featured for Scotland in victories on the road over Australia (2017) and Japan (2016) respectively – as well as Worcester Warriors back row Cornell du Preez, who earned his most recent of six caps against Wales in 2018.
Townsend added: “We’ve put a bigger emphasis on form as a guide for our selection, with those picked backed to go out and grab their opportunity.
“A number of young players have broken through at their clubs, while the bulk of the squad [23/31] from Japan has been reselected based on some strong individual performances and huge effort throughout our World Cup camp.
“We’re on to our next campaign now and it’s going to be very tough given the competition we face. Ireland have only lost one championship game at home in the last five years, and England were in great form in Japan.
“It’s a great focus for everyone when you’ve got Ireland away and England at home for your first two games in the tournament. The focus has to be on the future and how we find a way to win those games.”
SCOTLAND SQUAD 2020 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS
FORWARDS (21)
Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) – 24 caps
Jamie Bhatti (Edinburgh) – 15 caps
Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh) – 11 caps
Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 46 caps
Alex Craig (Gloucester) – uncapped
Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh) – uncapped
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) – 8 caps
Allan Dell (London Irish) – 28 caps
Cornell du Preez (Worcester Warriors) – 6 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 25 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 40 caps
Tom Gordon (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 55 caps
Nick Haining (Edinburgh) – uncapped
Stuart McInally (Edinburgh) – 33 caps
Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 35 caps
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) – 14 caps
Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh) – 3 caps
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) – 22 caps
George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 28 caps
BACKS (17)
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) – 11 caps
Chris Harris (Gloucester) – 14 caps
Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors) – 16 caps
Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) CAPTAIN – 72 caps
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 10 caps
Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints) – 3 caps
Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps
Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 23 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 17 caps
Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 44 caps
Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks) – 9 caps
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 28 caps
Henry Pyrgos (Edinburgh) – 28 caps
Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 49 caps
Matt Scott (Edinburgh) – 39 caps
Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Ratu Tagive (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
WATCH: RugbyPass have made something truly special with the Barbarians rugby team
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Wallaroos captain reflects on Black Ferns’ success with sevens stars
3
Springboks flyhalf's latest injury worry
4
Initial Immanuel Feyi-Waboso injury update does not sound promising
5
Latest Comments
Look there are a few unarguable facts here that are very clear. SARU was close to bankruptcy with SR, bailed out by the Lions and they need the URC and EPCR. Inclusion of SA teams in URC has been a great for for ALL concerned, from a rugby perspective and financially, moreover there is massive growth yet to come. The GP is in financial trouble and this will be the catalyst for EPCR change to further cement the Boks.
If this all plays out with even greater rewards for the urc AND the Top14 & GP via EPCR, the 6N will become 7N. Nz and Aus NEED to get their version firing with Japan & the PI’s, otherwise they will find themselves increasingly regressing…
Go to commentsPerofeta came back and was available for the eoyt right? Or was that why Love was in the squad (but got injured in the last week)?
It was such a frustrating year. Perofeta looked a service stop gap until Jordan was fit, but then got injured. Plummer was selected because of Pero's injury and dmac shat the bed in the second half in Australia but Clarke (?) got himself binned at the 65 min mark so Plummer couldn't come on (at least with the risk adverse Razors thinking) when he was planned to.
So many other exciting opportunities that could have happened without injuries, but then theyre probably balanced by knowing Sititi probably wouldn't have been given a chance without multiple injuries happened.
Go to comments