Tighthead and full-back are areas of worry for Scotland
◆ As head coach Townsend prepares to reveal his Six Nations squad this lunchtime, there may be some new faces included to deal with injury woes
Under Gregor Townsend’s watch Scotland have finished third twice, fourth three times and fifth once in the Six Nations and today he will name the squad for his seventh tilt at the championship as head coach.
Injuries have deprived him of Ollie Smith and Cameron Henderson and there are also concerns around Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Kyle Steyn, Javan Sebastian, Jamie Dobie and Murphy Walker, whose various ailments will likely curb their involvement in the early rounds at least. It’s part of the reason why Townsend has been scurrying around the country looking to unearth fresh Scottish-qualified talent to bolster his stock for a campaign which begins against Wales in Cardiff on February 3.
Sale was perhaps the most notable port of call on his recent tour of English clubs. The Sharks roster includes three dual-qualified players in Tom Roebuck, Gus Warr and Arron Reed and the buzz is that the latter will be included when Townsend unveils his selection at lunchtime.
The pacey Chester-born wing is a former England under-20 international but has Scottish heritage. Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe remain Townsend’s first-choice wingers but with Steyn having been sidelined by injury since October the Scotland coach is looking for backup.steyn’sglasgowteam-mate Kyle Rowe is also a contender.
Smith’s serious knee injury leaves Blair Kinghorn as the only recognised full-back and Townsend has been credited with an interest in the versatile Cardiff player Jacob Beetham, a former Wales under-20 international. Another (left-field) option would be Cole Forbes, the former Glasgow man who has been impressing in New Zealand with Bay of Plenty, and there is also potential to shuffle others into the 15 jersey. Graham started at fullback for Scotland against Tonga in 2021, Huw Jones has played there for Glasgow and Harlequins and Rowe could also fill in.
Jones’ recent outings for Glasgow have been on the wing, but the Edinburgh-born threequarter was part of Scotland's first-choice centre pairing with clubmate Sione Tuipulotu during the World Cup and last year’s Six Nations. Cameron Redpath and Stafford Mcdowall are both vying strongly for the No 12 jersey, with the Bath man in particularly good form of late. Centre is an area of strength for Scotland and Northampton’s Rory Hutchinson is another who has impressed recently.
Finn Russell looks nailed on for stand-off. The more interesting debate is who provides back-up. Ben Healy is in the box-seat but Adam Hastings did his chances no harm by kicking Gloucester to victory over Edinburgh at the weekend in front of the watching Townsend. Ali Price, Ben White and George Horne will be the scrum-halves but who starts against Wales remains up for debate.
Up front, the big concern is at tighthead where Zander Fagerson and WP Nel are short of cover. Townsend will be hoping both come through unscathed from their respective European ties on Friday and also that Javan Sebastian and Walker make speedy recoveries from knee injuries. Another Cardiff player, Rhys Litterick, has been linked with Scotland. On the other side of the scrum, Pierre Schoeman, Jamie Bhatti and Rory Sutherland are the likely looseheads.
Townsend picked four hookers in his Six Nations squad last year and George Turner and Ewan Ashman are the leading contenders this time around. Johnny Matthews’ form for Glasgow makes him a strong candidate to join them but it remainstobeseenifdavecherry will be included. The Edinburgh man’s World Cup ended abruptly when he suffered a concussion falling down stairs.
Henderson’s absence with a long-term knee injury robs the second row of an outstanding young talent but Scotland have the experienced trio of Richie Gray, Grant Gilchrist and Scott Cummings to rely on. Sam Skinner returned from injury for Edinburgh on Saturday but it was his first appearance of the season. By contrast, his team-mate Glen Young has been ever present and probably deserves a call. Kiran Mcdonald of Newcastle is another lock to have been mentioned in despatches but Jonny Gray has not played for Exeter since injuring his knee against La Rochelle on April 30 last year.
Townsend’s first-choice back row from the World Cup were all ruled out by injury at the weekend but two of the three could return for the Wales game. Darge, the Glasgow flanker, is the odd one out although his knee injury is not as bad as initially feared and he should be available midtournament. Jamie Ritchie, the Scotland skipper, missed
Edinburgh’s loss to Gloucester with a jaw problem but it is not thought to be serious. Jack Dempsey, the Glasgow No 8, underwent surgery on his skull but is back in training and may play for the Warriors on Friday. Matt Fagerson made his comeback from a facial injury on Saturday and looked the part despite Glasgow’s narrow loss at Exeter.
Townsend named a 40-man pool for last year’s Six Nations. A similarly sized squad can be expected this time as Scotland embark on a campaign which sees them host France and England after the trip to Cardiff, then round things off with away games against Italy and Ireland.
Finn Russell looks nailed on for stand-off. The more interesting debate is who provides back-up
Scotland are expected to include the Sale Sharks winger Arron Reed in their squad for the Six Nations, which will be named today.
Reed has already represented England at under-18 and under-20 level and scored a try against Scotland in the 2019 Under-20 Six Nations but now appears ready to embrace his Scottish heritage.
At 24, he is a good age, possesses serious pace and has over 100 senior appearances for Sale under his belt. The
Chester-born winger joined the Sharks Academy at 15 and went on to make his first-team debut three years later in 2017.
He has been a regular for Sale this season and has scored five tries in 11 Premiership outings. He helped the club reach the Premiership final last season and started the match as the Sharks lost 35-25 to Saracens at Twickenham.
Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe remain Gregor Townsend’s frontline wingers but with Kyle Steyn having been sidelined by an ankle injury since October the Scotland coach is looking for backup. He recently toured clubs in England, including Sale, where he was reported to have an interest not just in Reed but also his team-mates Tom Roebuck and Gus Warr who are both Scottish-qualified.
Kyle Rowe, the Glasgow Warriors flyer, is also likely to come into consideration for a wing berth by Townsend after an impressive first half of the season following his move from London Irish. Rowe was capped on Scotland’s tour of Argentina in 2022 but suffered a serious knee injury on his Test debut.
Meanwhile, Adam Hastings hopes he has done enough to persuade Gregor Townsend he deserves a place in his squad for the Guinness Six Nations after he continued his comeback with a telling contribution in Gloucester’s win over Edinburgh at the weekend.
Hastings, 27, has not played for Scotland since scoring a try in the 28-12 win over Fiji at Murrayfield in November 2022. His involvement in the match ended in the 42nd minute when he was on the receiving end of a ferocious hit from Fijian lock Ratu Leone Rotuisolia which left him with head and leg injuries and he has struggled with various ailments since, undergoing four operations.
He missed out on selection
At 24, Arron Reed is a good age, possesses serious pace and has over 100 senior appearances for Sale Sharks under his belt