Blair Cowan and Sean Maitland named in Scotland Squad for 2016 Six Nations

London Irish flanker, Blair Cowan and full back, Sean Maitland have both been named in Vern Cotter's Scotland squad for the 2016 Six Nations.

The pair have been impressive for London Irish during the first part of this season and will hope to build on their World Cup performances when they return to the Scotland camp. 

Scotland Head Coach Vern Cotter, said: “We’ve selected a mixture of experience with some exciting young players coming through, some of whom have experienced the Rugby World Cup and are eager to move forward, take the RBS 6 Nations head on and show that we can develop our game and be competitive.

“I think there should be confidence. The guys have worked hard and improved. There are positive signs that we can compete, and this Championship will give us another opportunity to measure ourselves against very good opposition in a tough competition.

“The guys believe that we can compete, dominate and secure victories in these games.”

Scotland’s RBS 6 Nations campaign gets underway with the sold-out fixture against England at BT Murrayfield on Saturday 6 February (kick-off 4.50pm) – live on BBC.

SCOTLAND SQUAD FOR THE 2016 RBS SIX NATIONS

– FORWARDS –

Hooker
Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) – 94 caps
Pat MacArthur (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps
Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 2 caps

Front-row
Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 52 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Moray Low (Exeter Chiefs) – 29 caps
Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 8 caps
Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps
Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped

Lock
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps
Richie Gray (Castres) – 51 caps
Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 17 caps
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap

Back-row
Adam Ashe (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps
John Barclay (Scarlets) – 45 caps
Blair Cowan (London Irish) – 15 caps
David Denton (Bath) – 32 caps
Chris Fusaro (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps
John Hardie (Edinburgh Rugby) – 5 caps
Josh Strauss (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps

– BACKS –

Scrum-half
Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh Rugby) – 8 caps
Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN (Gloucester) – 46 caps

Stand-off
Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps
Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) – 21 caps

Centre
Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors) – 14 caps
Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps
Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby) – 33 caps
Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 12 caps

Wing
Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) – 101 caps
Sean Maitland (London Irish) – 20 caps
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 22 caps
Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 23 caps

Full-back
Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 38 caps
Ruaridh Jackson (Wasps) – 27 caps