SCOTLAND COACH Andy Robinson included six uncapped players but also kept faith with his World Cup flops when he named his 36-man squad for the opening two Six Nations matches against England and Wales yesterday.
Winger Lee Jones, 19-year-old fullback Stuart Hogg, outhalf Duncan Weir, flanker/locks Robert Harley and Fraser McKenzie and centre Steven Shingler were the new faces.
Despite their failure to get past the group stage of the World Cup for the first time, all the squad from last year’s tournament in New Zealand, minus the retired Chris Paterson and Nathan Hines, are retained.
However, Shingler’s eligibility for Scotland was called into doubt just hours after the London Irish back was named in the squad.
Robinson believes Shingler qualifies as a result of his Dumfries-born mother. However, Shingler played at fullback for Wales Under-20s against France Under-20s in the 2011 Six Nations, when both nations declared the age-group squads as their second XVs, effectively handcuffing the players involved to those nations.
“I am pleased to reflect on the winning displays we have seen from both Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors over the last two months and the contribution a number of our uncapped players have made to them,” Robinson said yesterday.
“We said after the World Cup that the challenge the Scotland squad must confront is to get on with the business of winning international rugby matches. Potential counts for nothing if you don’t deliver results.”
The squad will gather at St Andrews on January 23rd before being trimmed for preparations for their opening game at home to holders England on February 4th.
Scotland, who have not finished outside the bottom two in the championship since 2006 and not won the title since 1999, play Wales in Cardiff the following week.
Meanwhile, France manager Philippe St Andre named uncapped Toulouse lock Yoann Maestri and Clermont utility back Wesley Fofana in his 30-man squad for their campaign.
Outhalf Lionel Beauxis has been recalled after a 2½-year absence along with fullback Clement Poitrenaud, who has not played for France since last year’s tournament.
Former captain Lionel Nallet, Damien Traille and Fabrice Estebanez, who were members of the World Cup squad last year, have been omitted.
France open their campaign against Italy at home on February 4th.
SCOTLAND SQUAD– Backs: J Ansbro (London Irish), M Blair (Edinburgh), C Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), S Danielli (Ulster), N De Luca (Edinburgh), M Evans (Castres), S Hogg, R Jackson (both Glasgow Warriors), L Jones, G Laidlaw (both Edinburgh), R Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), S Lamont (Scarlets), R Lawson (Gloucester), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), D Parks (Cardiff Blues), S Shingler (London Irish) and D Weir (Glasgow Warriors). Forwards: J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), K Brown (Saracens), G Cross, D Denton (both Edinburgh Rugby), A Dickinson (Sale Sharks), R Ford (Edinburgh Rugby), R Gray, D Hall (both Glasgow Warriors), J Hamilton (Gloucester), R Harley (Glasgow Warriors), A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), A Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), S Lawson (Gloucester), M Low (Glasgow Warriors), F McKenzie (Sale Sharks), E Murray (Newcastle Falcons), R Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby), A Strokosch (Gloucester) and R Vernon (Sale Sharks).
FRANCE SQUAD– Forwards: Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), Vincent Debaty (Clermont), Luc Ducalcon (Castres), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), William Servat (Toulouse), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Français), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), Pascal Pape (Stade Français), Julien Pierre (Clermont), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse, capt), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont). Backs: Morgan Parra (Clermont), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), Lionel Beauxis (Toulouse), Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Yann David (Toulouse), Wesley Fofana (Clermont), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Julien Malzieu (Clermont), Alexis Palisson (Toulon), Maxime Medard (Toulouse), Clement Poitrenaud (Toulouse).
