12 selected in Scotland squad

Scotland finished last year’s championship in third place with three wins for the second time since five nations became six, with Head Coach Gregor Townsend keen to see continued improvements 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.

“We are very proud of what a number of our players have achieved since the Autumn Tests, particularly with Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors both aiming to make the last eight of the Heineken Champions Cup for the first time and both sitting in strong positions in their respective Guinness PRO14 conferences.

“It is a privilege for our players to be involved in the Guinness Six Nations, which is such a prestigious tournament and will be highly competitive once again.

“We look forward to taking on the challenge of Italy and working hard as a squad over the next two weeks to deliver a winning performance.”

Scotland will open the campaign against Italy at BT Murrayfield on Saturday 2 February, in the first of three home Tests in this year’s competition, all of which are expected to be played before capacity crowds.

SCOTLAND SQUAD: 2019 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS

FORWARDS (22)

Alex Allan (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps

Adam Ashe (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps

Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) – 14 caps

Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps

David Cherry (Edinburgh) – uncapped

Allan Dell (Edinburgh) – 17 caps

Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 28 caps

Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) – uncapped

Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 47 caps

John Hardie (Newcastle Falcons) – 16 caps

Jake Kerr (Leicester Tigers) – uncapped

Stuart McInally (Edinburgh) – 22 caps

Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 26 caps

D’Arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped

Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) – 6 caps

Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) – 3 caps

Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped

Josh Strauss (Sale Sharks) – 17 caps

Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 38 caps

Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) – 14 caps

Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 23 caps

Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 41 caps

BACKS (17)

Chris Dean (Edinburgh) – uncapped

Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) – 1 cap

Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps

Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped

Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons) – 6 caps

Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps

Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 65 caps

George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps

Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 38 caps

Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps

Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 10 caps

Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 7 caps

Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN – 66 caps

Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 37 caps

Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps

Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 40 caps

Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 46 caps

Unavailable through injury: John Barclay (Edinburgh), Mark Bennett (Edinburgh), Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh), Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Lewis Carmichael (Edinburgh), David Denton (Leicester Tigers), Cornell Du Preez (Worcester Warriors), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Toulouse), Luke Hamilton (Edinburgh), Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh), Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks), Matt Scott (Edinburgh), Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), George Turner (Glasgow Warriors), Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons).