Scotland name seven uncapped players in their squad for the upcoming Six Nations.
Hookers Jake Kerr, Dave Cherry and Grant Stewart will be battling it out for the starting spot in the front row.
The other four uncapped players are centres Chris Dean and Sam Johnson, Newcastle flanker Gary Graham and Glasgow pro D’Arcy Rae.
Newcastle back-row John Hardie makes a return to the Scotland squad for the first time since the 2018 Six Nations.
Squad regulars Jonny Gray and Tommy Seymour are on track, if selected, to reach a half century of Scotland caps during the championship, currently just three and four caps from the milestone respectively.
Scotland finished third in last years tournament, accumulating three wins for the second time since the five nations became the six nations.
Head coach Gregor Townsend is keen to see continued improvement from his side.
He said: “There’s certainly been a lot of improvement from this group of players in recent seasons and I believe there’s much more to come. They’ve a genuine desire to get better and reach their potential in what is a huge year for our sport.
“In the past 18 months we’ve played 18 Test matches and have introduced 18 new players to Test-level rugby. Once again, our squad features players aiming to take that step, which is a testimony to their performances this season and the growing strength in depth of Scottish rugby.
Scotland Six Nations Squad:
Forwards:
Alex Allan, Adam Ashe,Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti, David Cherry, Allan Dell, Grant Gilchrist, Gary Graham, Jonny Gray, John Hardie, Jake Kerr, Stuart McInally, Willem Nel, D’Arcy Rae, Jamie Ritchie, Sam Skinner, Grant Stewart, Josh Strauss, Tim Swinson, Ben Toolis, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson
Backs:
Chris Dean, Darcy Graham, Nick Grigg, Sam Johnson, Chris Harris, Adam Hastings, Stuart Hogg, George Horne, Pete Horne, Huw Jones, Lee Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Greig Laidlaw (capt), Sean Maitland, Ali Price, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour
MATT WALKER
