Today head coach Gregor Townsend announced his 2026 Guinness Six Nations squad for a tournament that given the autumn Scotland had, it almost looked like he might not be in charge for – at least outside the spires of Murrayfield.
The squad is a mix of old and new, but more of the former, including returns for Johnny Gray and Dave Cherry who has somehow kept Gregor Hiddleston out, despite the need to build depth for the next World Cup where it is debatable either will feature.
Some newer faces are involved, such as Freddy Douglas and Liam McConnell, and relative newcomer Fergus Burke is in there too, however the back selection in particular is pretty tried and tested as it has been for the last few squads.
Sione Tuipulotu will once again captain the side, presumably with a selection of vice captains as the fixtures dictate. A resurgent Huw Jones back from surgery and looking even faster through gaps for Glasgow, will no doubt partner him in the midfield. One possible alternative is the returning Ollie Smith who has been featuring at 13 recently, and his versatility comes in at the expense of guys like Arron Reed (more on him below).
By not reaching wholesale for some of the pro-teams more younger, dynamic and in-form players, Townsend is perhaps suggesting the focus is allowing this group of players (ie what’s left of the “golden” generation) to salvage some form of legacy for his international coaching career. You can’t mess around with the Six Nations, but to be honest large portions of the Scotland support are tired of our team failing to make an impact on the tournament even with good players.
As usual, there will be a battle for back row slots, with combative guys like McConnell and Gregor Brown in particular pushing the same old faces hard for inclusion and could be the key to giving the pack an edge it has long missed.
In the second row, it seems unlikely that we will see the continuation of the Jonny Gray/Grant Gilchrist combo that seemed a little bit like it was passed its sell-by date in 2019, but with Townsend spinning the tombola, who really knows?
As usual backup tight head is probably the biggest worry? D’arcy Rae did well in the autumn and will probably be Zander’s main backup alongside Eliot Millar-Mills, at least to begin with. There’s no place yet for young Ollie Blythe-Lafferty.
In the backs the big question as always is what do you do if Finn Russell gets injured, and Adam Hastings has at least been in excellent form for Glasgow; there’s always Blair Kinghorn too, who featured at standoff recently for Toulouse.
Another interesting – and for once not a negative – conundrum is what to do with Jamie Dobie, who is in outstanding form for Glasgow. He is perhaps not the first choice 9, nor indeed a first choice on the wing if Duhan, Darcy and the Kyles are all fit, and so his utility may well find its home on the bench.
Scotland 2026 Guinness 6 Nations Squad
Forwards: Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Magnus Bradbury, Gregor Brown, Dave Cherry, Scott Cummings, Alex Craig, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Freddy Douglas, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Nathan McBeth, Liam McConnell, Elliot Millar Mills, D’arcy Rae, Jamie Ritchie, Pierre Schoeman, Rory Sutherland, George Turner, Max Williamson.
Backs: Fergus Burke, Jamie Dobie, Darcy Graham, Adam Hastings, George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Huw Jones, Tom Jordan, Blair Kinghorn, Stafford McDowall, Finn Russell, Kyle Rowe, Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn, Sione Tuipulotu (capt), Duhan van der Merwe, Ben White.
Scotland A Squad Named to face Italy
Scotland A return to action next month with a training squad also announced today ahead of their away match against an Italy XV on Friday 6 February. It is another small but important step in the revived A programme, which is now being positioned by the SRU as a central part of the performance pathway rather than an occasional extra.
Nigel Carolan will lead the group as head coach, alongside assistants Scott Forrest and Stevie Lawrie, giving the setup a familiar Glasgow and Edinburgh feel. The squad itself reflects that balance between development and experience. There are uncapped players such as hooker Gregor Hiddleston and tighthead prop Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, both of whom have impressed at club level this season.
They are backed up by players who already know the demands of Test rugby. Andy Onyeama-Christie and Cameron Redpath bring senior experience, while Harri Morris, who made his Scotland debut in November, is also included among the hookers.
In the backs, son of A-Cap Stuart Dan Lancaster earns a first Scotland call-up after a run of strong performances for Glasgow, with Gus Warr and Ben Afshar providing options at scrum-half. Harry Paterson, Arron Reed and Redpath round out the squad, giving the group a solid spine as Scotland A look to build on last year’s momentum and give the next tier a genuine platform to push on while keeping players match sharp should injuries arise in the 6 Nations proper.
Scotland A Squad
Forwards: Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, Cameron Henderson, Alec Hepburn, Gregor Hiddleston, Will Hurd, Alexander Masibaka, Harri Morris, Andy Onyeama-Christie, James Whitcombe.
Backs: Ben Afshar, Dan Lancaster, Harry Paterson, Cameron Redpath, Arron Reed, Gus Warr.
13 responses
The one name still on the squad sheet that continues to under perform is G Townsend
Forgive me if I’ve missed a coherent explanation from Townsend, but the Hiddleston omission seems crazy to me.
Have been really impressed at the Glasgow set piece, breakdown speed and maul control, and Hiddleston has been a key component of that. Haven’t seen Cherry at club level this year, and he could be tearing up trees for all I know, but he feels like a player we should move on from given his (relatively) advancing years.
As ever, Scotland go into the tournament with familiar strengths and familiar weaknesses.
Our options in the backline are excellent, to the extent that Blair Kinghorn, Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham could all find their positions up for grabs. And our forwards remain relatively under powered, and lack the depth that other countries can boast.
Would love for Townsend to prove me wrong, and for Scotland to have a really strong 6 Nations (winners / second place). But my head tells me we’re treading water until Franco Smith takes the reins.
Hiddleston is in the A squad, presumably next cab off the rank if there’s an injury?
Can Townsend only look backwards instead of forwards? Why does he continually ignore form players? There’s a World Cup next year & we should be introducing young, fresh blood like Hiddleston & Seb Stephen instead of Cherry & Turner. Cam Henderson & Alex Samuel should be in instead of Gilchrist & the most surprising of all selections Jonny Gray. Gray was very poor in last year’s 6 Nations despite Townsend incredibly saying he played well, he did not play well, was mostly anonymous although he played 4 times before Townsend finally dropped him for Gregor Brown for the last game. I’m sick fed up of Townsend picking his favourites to the detriment of the national team, it just smacks of him being deliberately stubborn.
this years 6 nations really worries me – 3 tricky away games and 2 tricky home ones – all 5 eminently loseable. We saw real fragility in the autumn tests and lack of bench strength.
really hope my pessimism proves unfounded and it goes all right.
I mean a disastrous one surely means Toony out?
Wonder if the SRU are run by GT hence he is still in the job
Not feeling the doom and gloom this time round.I’d say this team’s ready to kick ass,and they should be.
I think the wasteful years of seeing ourselves as entertainers are done.The carrys-on in the autumn now feels like a watershed.Townsend saying he’s going to lean on Glasgow is one reason.Admittance of over-coaching another.
The boys can play and they’ll score try’s so there’s not a lot missing.My team has Steyn and Jordan and the chances are that’ll happen..all good.The forwards are improving,simple as.
Felt long enough that away games were better for us as there was less inclination to showboat,but not now.Grown-up i’d say.
There’s plenty room in this supporters bus to spread out in…for now.
In Toonie[and player] i now trust.
I’m gutted for Liam McConnell’s injury, was hoping he’d get a chance to impress but that puts the ball squarely in Gregor Brown’s court I think to make an impact!
While I agree with you Rory I think we both know Townsend will go with Fagerson at six & Brown will be on the bench. There is a lot of talent competing for the back row but I’ve always thought we are a bit lightweight & could do with Brown’s stature, skill & aggression in there. Josh Bayliss is another very good player who is usually overlooked, it’s definitely an area of strength, Onyeama-Christie didn’t even make the squad.
With regard to the coach GT or any other coach for any other nation,my feelings are that an coach should be employed on a three or four year contract with points of improvement in playing structures and player depth and skills,etc year on year and hopefully bare some fruits with regards to success and for Scotland this in my opinion should be a winning of the 6N not necessarily a GS,an second place finish a triple crown or an victory against NZ or SA ,and a solid world Cup showing like a Q/F exit.Other than winning the Culcutta Cup and retaining it GT has not achieved much else ,this 6N I hope is a success but feel not enough change in player choices ie:GC,JG,GT when better are available.
I’ve just watched Leinster v Edinburgh , I witnessed Ben Vellacott have his face deliberately smashed in by a Leinster player and the referee did not penalize the offending player as he said it was a rugby incident.
The referee needs to be sued by Vellacott and Edinburgh rugby.
I disagree,if you watch the Leinster player in the replay he was looking into the ruck as he was clearing out the other player at all times.