Rugby-Scotland include uncapped Redpath in Six Nations squad

Scotland have included Bath centre Cameron Redpath in their 35-man squad for the Six Nations after winning a potential tug-of-war with England for the player. Redpath’s father Bryan won 60 caps at scrumhalf for Scotland and captained the team but an approach to the player for the Autumn internationals late last year failed, though he has now committed to coach Gregor Townsend’s rebuild of the squad.

"We have spoken to him for a while," Townsend said on Wednesday. "We wanted him in the autumn, but he did not feel it was the right time to commit to either team. "But he has made that decision now and saying yes to us, we see him as a big part of the Six Nations campaign. He has played really well for Bath."

Flyhalf Finn Russell returns from injury in a major boost, while back row Gary Graham, wing Byron McGuigan, hooker Grant Stewart and Irish prop Alan Dell are also back in the squad. Aside from Redpath, there are three other uncapped players in hookers David Cherry and Ewan Ashman, and lock Alex Craig.

"The depth we have across the squad enables us to bring in some new players who have excelled in recent weeks and others who we believe can perform at Test level," Townsend said. "Our tournament gets off to a fantastic start with a fixture we look forward to every year against England (on Feb. 6) and the opportunity to win back the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham.

"As coaches we have selected a group which we believe can build on the work our players put in throughout the recent Autumn Nations Cup campaign and kick on again in terms of performance levels." Squad:

Forwards (20): Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks) - Uncapped

Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) – 28 caps David Cherry (Edinburgh) – Uncapped

Alex Craig (Gloucester) - Uncapped Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) – 17 caps

Allan Dell – London Irish – 32 caps Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps

Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) – 2 caps

Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 42 caps Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) – 61 caps

Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 65 caps Oli Kebble (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps

Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 40 caps Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) – 23 caps

Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh) – 11 caps

Blade Thomson (Scarlets) – 9 caps George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps

Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 36 caps Backs (15):

Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) – 15 caps Chris Harris (Gloucester) – 23 caps

Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) CAPTAIN – 80 caps Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 26 caps

Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 25 caps James Lang (Harlequins) – 5 caps

Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 50 caps Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks) – 10 caps

Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 37 caps Cameron Redpath – (Bath Rugby) - Uncapped

Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 51 caps Scott Steele (Harlequins) – 1 cap

Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 28 caps Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh) – 1 cap

Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh) – 5 caps