Scotland Head Coach Gregor Townsend has named a 39-player squad, including four uncapped players and not yet a captain, for the 2024 Guinness Six Nations.
Following a disappointing World Cup many players will be itching to show that this Scotland squad has something more about it than was shown in France, and with a number of other nations without their big names, Scotland will feel they have a chance to do something (when do we not?!).
This squad is not without changes of its own though, with no spot for Lions Chris Harris, Rory Sutherland and Hamish Watson. In the centres the call is obviously due to plenty of also in-form alternatives but in the back row where Fagerson, Darge and Dempsey are all short of match fitness and at prop where the cupboard is often bare, it’s a much bolder call.
Loosehead prop Alec Hepburn (30) of Exeter Chiefs qualifies through his father, who was born in Scotland – Hepburn himself was born in Australia – and got the last of his 6 caps for England in 2018 so is now able to switch. Leicester Tigers’ tighthead Will Hurd (24) represented Scotland at under-20 level, qualifies through his grandparents, and was for a time part of Glasgow Warriors wider training group. Although the team announcement listed him as loosehead, he has played tighthead all season so that looks like a typo and will provide valuable backup to Zander Fagerson and the aging WP Nel (sorry WP).
Also newly called up are pacy winger Arron Reed of Sale – who like Hepburn qualifies through his father – and Edinburgh’s Harry Paterson, who can play both at wing and full-back and has been one of the very few young Scotland players who has looked like they could be comfortable on the pro and test stages.
Despite some worries over who would be around after the ding-dong 1872 Cup, Ewan Ashman, Johnny Matthews and George Turner are the named hookers with Dave Cherry perhaps out of Townsend’s favour.
Glen Young returns to the national squad at lock having last been capped against Argentina in 2022 while Jonny Gray remains in exile. Where is Jonny, is he okay?
Rory Hutchinson also returns to the fold for the first time since appearing on the tour to Argentina in 2022 and may be one of the many options Townsend could consider as fullback cover with Blair Kinghorn (like Stuart Hogg often was before him) the only proper 15 available.
Adam Hastings and perhaps even Ben Healy might indeed find that the route to further caps with Finn Russell in fine form. Russell may indeed be the front runner for captain, with the new look back row that seems almost inevitable until Darge is fully fit possibly leaving no room for the incumbent Jamie Ritchie.
Scotland squad for the 2024 Guinness Six Nations (caps in brackets):
Forwards:
Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (12)
Josh Bayliss – Bath Rugby (5)
Jamie Bhatti – Glasgow Warriors (34)
Andy Christie – Saracens (4)
Luke Crosbie – Edinburgh Rugby (7)
Scott Cummings – Glasgow Warriors (33)
Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors (15)
Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors (15)
Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby (68)
Richie Gray – Glasgow Warriors (78)
Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (40)
Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (62)
Alec Hepburn – Exeter Chiefs (uncapped)
Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (uncapped)
Johnny Matthews – Glasgow Warriors (1)
WP Nel – Edinburgh Rugby (61)
Jamie Ritchie – Edinburgh Rugby (46)
Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby (26)
Sam Skinner – Edinburgh Rugby (30)
George Turner – Glasgow Warriors (40)
Glen Young – Edinburgh Rugby (3)
Backs:
Adam Hastings – Gloucester Rugby (27)
Ben Healy – Edinburgh Rugby (4)
George Horne – Glasgow Warriors (26)
Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby (39)
Rory Hutchinson – Northampton Saints (8)
Huw Jones – Glasgow Warriors (43)
Blair Kinghorn – Toulouse (50)
Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (1)
Harry Paterson – Edinburgh Rugby (uncapped)
Ali Price – Edinburgh Rugby (66)
Cameron Redpath – Bath Rugby (9)
Arron Reed – Sale Sharks (uncapped)
Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (1)
Finn Russell – Bath Rugby (75)
Kyle Steyn – Glasgow Warriors (15)
Sione Tuipulotu – Glasgow Warriors (22)
Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby (34)
Ben White – Toulon (18)
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