Scotland squad update ahead of France match

Gregor Townsend has added six players to his Guinness Six Nations Squad ahead of Scotland taking on France this Saturday at BT Murrayfield.

James Lang, Ollie Smith, Oli Kebble, Simon Berghan, Kiran McDonald and Marshall Sykes have met up with the Scotland squad while Rory Sutherland, Javan Sebastian, Jonny Gray, Scott Cummings and Cam Redpath have returned to their club teams.

Rory Sutherland sustained a rib injury in the loss over Wales and is undergoing rehab.

Jonny Gray will be out of the France match due to an ankle injury and Scott Cummings is ruled out due to a knee injury. Cam Redpath will also be unavailable through injury. They will continue to be assessed in the coming weeks ahead of the remaining two games against Italy and Ireland.

Glasgow Warriors tighthead prop Simon Berghan makes a return to squad replacing Javan Sebastian in the front row. Berghan signed for the Warriors at the start of this season and has been capped on 31 occasions. Fellow Glasgow Warriors prop, Oli Kebble will also join up with the squad, having made his Scotland debut in October 2020, amassing 11 caps since then.

In the second-row, Edinburgh Rugby’s Marshall Sykes has been called up after making his Scotland debut in the Autumn Nations Series last year, coming off the bench against Tonga. Joining him in the second-row options is uncapped Glasgow Warriors player Kiran McDonald who signed for the Scotstoun club in 2017.

Edinburgh Rugby centre, James Lang, has met up with the squad and will be looking to add to his six Scotland caps so far. Fresh from his Man of the Match performance against Benetton for Glasgow Warriors on Saturday night, uncapped full-back Ollie Smith has also been called up.

Having been ruled out of the opening two Guinness Six Nations games through concussion, Josh Bayliss made an impressive return at the weekend, scoring a try for Bath in a defeat to Leicester Tigers, and he will be available for selection.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said: “While it is disappointing to lose players to injury ahead of the France match, this is a great opportunity for the new players to impress and force their way into our match-day squad.

“The attritional nature of the Guinness Six Nations means there are often changes made to the squad throughout the championship and it is a challenge we are much better equipped to deal with given our current squad depth.”

“We wish those that have missed out through injury all the best in their rehabilitation, and we will continue to monitor their progress ahead of the final two games of the championship.”

Scotland Squad

Forwards

Ewan Ashman – Sale Sharks – 2 caps

Josh Bayliss – Bath Rugby – 2 caps

Simon Berghan – Glasgow Warriors – 31 caps

Magnus Bradbury – Edinburgh Rugby – 16 caps

Andy Christie – Saracens – uncapped

Allan Dell – London Irish – 32 caps

Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors – 1 cap

Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors – 19 caps

Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors – 44 caps

Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby – 50 caps

Nick Haining – Edinburgh Rugby – 10 caps

Jamie Hodgson – Edinburgh Rugby – 3 caps

Oli Kebble – Glasgow Warriors – 11 caps

Stuart McInally – Edinburgh Rugby – 45 caps

Kiran McDonald – Glasgow Warriors – uncapped

WP Nel – Edinburgh Rugby – 45 caps

Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby – 6 caps

Sam Skinner – Exeter Chiefs – 17 caps

Marshall Sykes – Edinburgh Rugby – 1 cap

George Turner – Glasgow Warriors – 20 caps

Hamish Watson – Edinburgh Rugby – 45 caps

Backs

Mark Bennett – Edinburgh Rugby – 22 caps

Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby – 24 caps

Chris Harris – Gloucester Rugby – 33 caps

Stuart Hogg – Exeter Chiefs – 90 caps – Captain

Rory Hutchinson – Northampton Saints – 5 caps

Sam Johnson – Glasgow Warriors – 22 caps

Blair Kinghorn – Edinburgh Rugby – 30 caps

James Lang – Edinburgh Rugby – 6 caps

Rufus McLean – Glasgow Warriors – 2 caps

Ali Price – Glasgow Warriors – 48 caps

Kyle Rowe – London Irish – uncapped

Finn Russell – Racing 92 – 60 caps

Ollie Smith – Glasgow Warriors – uncapped

Kyle Steyn – Glasgow Warriors – 3 caps

Sione Tuipulotu- Glasgow Warriors – 3 caps

Duhan van der Merwe – Worcester Warriors – 15 caps

Ben Vellacott – Edinburgh Rugby – uncapped

Ben White – London Irish – 2 caps