Budge Pountney has been named Scotland captain for their opening Six Nations match against champions England at Murrayfield on February 2nd.
The Flanker missed Scotland's internationals late last year because of injury. The 22-man Scotland squad for the England game sees several changes from the one that beat Ireland 32-10 in the rearranged Six Nations match last September. Bryan Redpath also returns at scrum-half after a long lay-off
From the enlarged squad picked for the two-day training session last week, scrum-half Graeme Beveridge and prop Craig Smith are the notable omissions.
Fly-half Duncan Hodge returns to the senior squad after impressive performances for the A side against Tonga, Argentina and New Zealand. There is also a return for Rob Russell, the Australian-born Saracens hooker, who ousts Steve Scott as the likely reserve.
Looking ahead to the Calcutta Cup match, won 43-3 by England last year, McGeechan said: "The first game of the championship is always very different. We will want to take forward a number of pluses from the New Zealand game".
Squad:
BacksAndrew Henderson (Glasgow), Duncan Hodge (Edinburgh), Brendan Laney (Edinburgh), John Leslie (Northampton Saints), James McLaren (Glasgow), Glenn Metcalfe (Glasgow), Andy Nicol (Glasgow), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh), Bryan Redpath (Sale Sharks), Gregor Townsend (Castres)
ForwardsGordon Bulloch (Glasgow), George Graham (Newcastle Falcons), Stuart Grimes (Newcastle Falcons), Martin Leslie (Edinburgh), Scott Murray (Saracens), Jon Petrie (Glasgow), Budge Pountney (Northampton Saints), Rob Russell (Saracens), Tom Smith (Northampton Saints), Mattie Stewart (Northampton Saints), Simon Taylor (Edinburgh), Jason White (Glasgow)