Scotland invites Gray and Cherry to the Six Nations

Experienced pair Jonny Gray and Dave Cherry return to the Scotland squad in time for this year’s Six Nations, while there are places for Edinburgh’s young duo Liam McConnell and Freddie Douglas.

The 40-man squad chosen by coach Gregor Townsend includes 23 forwards and 17 defenders.

Adam Hastings and Fergus Burke will provide competition and cover for star fly-half Finn Russell.

Ben White and George Horne are the halves of the party, with Jamie Dobbie an option at number nine but thriving on the wing for Glasgow Warriors.

Captain Sione Topoluto is joined by Glasgow teammates Huw Jones, Stafford McDowall and Northampton Saints’ Rory Hutchinson as specialist centres.

The choice of back three will come from Blair Kinghorn, Tom Jordan, Kyle Rowe and Ollie Smith, who are all options at full-back, along with Doohan van der Merwe, Darcy Graham, Kyle Steyn and Dube.

McConnell, 21, and Douglas, 20, have one cap to their name and join Magnus Bradbury, Jamie Ritchie, Josh Bayliss and Glasgow trio Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge and Jack Dempsey in the scrap of back-row seats.

Cherry, 35, who plays in Pro D2 in France, has been selected for Vannes, alongside fellow hookers Ewan Ashman and George Turner.

There are three loose supports. Pierre Schumann, Rory Sutherland and Nathan Macbeth, with Elliott Millar-Mills and Darcy Ray supporting the outstanding Xander Fagerson.

The 81-cap Bordeaux Gray player joins in-form teammates Grant Gilchrist and Scott Cummings as Max Williamson and Alex Craig try to break down the system in the second row, along with Gregor Brown, who also operates on the blind side.

Scotland opens the tournament in Rome on February 7, then hosts England before heading to Cardiff on three consecutive Saturdays.

France visit Murrayfield on March 7, while Scotland are in Dublin for the final round of matches seven days later.

Scotland finished fourth last year, with third places in 2023 and 2018, their best performance in Townsend’s previous eight attempts.