Townsend adds six players to Scotland squad
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Scotland Head coach Gregor Townsend has named a revised Scotland squad for the 6 Nations as the group reconvened ahead of this Saturday’s Round 3 Test against England at BT Murrayfield.
Harlequins wing Tim Visser and Gloucester centre Matt Scott are the only backs to be added to the squad, having last featured on the 2017 summer tour against Fiji and Australia respectively.
The incoming forward quartet include tight head prop Willem Nel (who returns from the broken arm he sustained against Samoa in the Autumn Tests), uncapped Glasgow Warriors hooker James Malcolm, Sale Sharks back-row Josh Strauss and Glasgow Warriors lock Tim Swinson, who returned from a hand injury to feature in his club’s five-try win over Cheetahs on Friday night.
The new additions replace Saracens centre Duncan Taylor (head) and Toulouse lock Richie Gray (calf), who are yet to recover sufficiently to join the squad in camp, as well as Magnus Bradbury, Nathan Fowles, Murray McCallum (Edinburgh Rugby) and D’arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors), who drop out of the squad.
Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors) and Neil Cochrane (Edinburgh Rugby) will remain with their clubs to complete the graduated return to play protocols after sustaining head injuries at the weekend.
Uncapped Edinburgh Rugby duo Charlie Shiel (scrum-half) and Darcy Graham (full-back/wing) are also invited to train with the squad on Monday and Tuesday.
Scotland 6 Nations squad
BACKS (16)
Mark Bennett (Edinburgh Rugby) – 20 caps
Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – 1 cap
Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons) – 2 caps
Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 57 caps
Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 30 caps
Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors) – 32 caps
Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped
Greig Laidlaw (ASM Clermont Auvergne) – 60 caps
Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 31 caps
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors) – 27 caps
Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 41 caps
Matt Scott (Gloucester) – 39 caps
Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 33 caps
FORWARDS (20)
John Barclay CAPTAIN (Scarlets) – 68 caps
Simon Berghan (Edinburgh Rugby) – 6 caps
Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps
David Denton (Worcester Warriors) – 36 caps
Cornell Du Preez (Edinburgh Rugby) – 6 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – 20 caps
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 40 caps
Luke Hamilton (Leicester Tigers) – 1 cap
Rob Harley (Glasgow Warriors) – 20 caps
Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons) – 47 caps
James Malcolm (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 14 caps
Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 19 caps
Gordon Reid (London Irish) – 29 caps
Josh Strauss (Sale Sharks) – 14 caps
Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 33 caps
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh Rugby) – 9 caps
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 17 caps
Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons) – 12 caps
Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps
