Winners & Losers: Scotland Six Nations Squad

Ahead of the Scotland team announcements for Six Nations tournament we look at some of the winners and losers.

Winners:

First on the list are four players who have received their first call up by Head Coach Gregor Townsend.

Arron Reed: 

Arron Reed made his Sale Sharks debut in 2017 against Toulouse in the Challenge Cup and featured seven times across his debut season.

The 24-year-old winger made four appearances for England U20 in 2019 across the Under-20 Six Nations and the World Rugby U20 Championship.

Reed has featured in all 11 rounds of the Gallagher Premiership so far this season and hit rich try-scoring form in November when he scored five tries in three matches.

He qualifies for Scotland through his father, who was born in Linlithgow.

Harry Paterson:

Harry Paterson played for Scotland U20 in 2020, playing in matches against England, Italy and France.

The 22-year-old made his Edinburgh Rugby debut in 2021, starting at full-back in the Rainbow Cup against Ulster. He has made five appearances for Edinburgh so far this season, coming off the bench against Gloucester at the weekend.

Paterson also represented Scotland 7s in the Singapore and Vancouver International 7s in 2022.

Will Hurd

Qualifying through his grandmother from Larbert, Will Hurd made nine appearances for Scotland U20 in 2019.

A former Cardiff Metropolitan University student, the prop was included in the 2020 BUCS Super Rugby team of the year.

Hurd signed for Leicester Tigers in February 2021, making his debut two months later against Connacht in the Challenge Cup. He has made 13 appearances across all competitions for Tigers this season.

Alec Hepburn

Alec Hepburn started his professional career at London Welsh in the English Championship, making 17 appearances for the club.

In 2015, the loosehead prop signed for Exeter Chiefs. He has appeared five times for the club this season, including starting against Glasgow Warriors in the Champions Cup on Saturday.

Hepburn previously earned six caps for England, but qualifies to switch allegiances through his father, who was born in Glasgow.

Losers:

Matt Currie: 

The younh centre represented Scotland U20 during the 2020 U20 Six Nations campaign in which he started in all five matches. He has been playing well for Edinburgh Rugby and is one that fans had hoped he would recieve the call up to the senior squad. 

Hamish Watson: 

The experienced flanker has been part of the Scotland setup since he represented them at u19 level. He made his debut in the 2015 Six Nations tournament and became a regular starter for them in the 2017 November test series starting all three games.  Watson was also named in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Scotland squad but suffered a knee injury in a defeat against Ireland. He was also named in the 2023 Rugby World Cup. It is a shocker that Townsend chose not to include him this time around.

Chris Harris:

Another Edinburgh Rugby player who has been on top of his game this season has been left out of the squad. Harris made his debut for Scotland in 2017 has gone from strength to strength under Head Coach Townsend. He featured in majority of their games in 2020 and 2021 and was rewarded with a call up to 2021 British and Irish Lions tour in South Africa. Harris was also selected for the 2023 Rugby World cup and fans are upset that he was not included in 2024 Six Nations squad.