Scotland add six players to Six Nations squad ahead of Calcutta Cup fixture with England

Gregor Townsend, the Scotland head coach, has added six players to his Six Nations squad ahead of Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match against England at Murrayfield. Four of the additions are up front, with two backs joining.

They are Harlequins’ prolific try-scoring wing Tim Visser, who proved his fitness against Leicester on Saturday, and centre Matt Scott, part of the Gloucester side beaten at Worcester. Both last featured for Scotland on the 2017 tour of Australia and Fiji, with Visser also starting last year’s Calcutta Cup at Twickenham while Scott played in the same fixture two years ago.

Up front, tighthead prop WP Nel returns after breaking his arm against Samoa in the autumn, while second row Tim Swinson is included after proving his recovery from a hand injury in Glasgow’s bonus-point win over the Cheetahs on Friday. Uncapped Warriors hooker James Malcolm and Sale Sharks No 8 Josh Strauss, who was offloaded by Townsend when he coached Glasgow but played in Scotland’s win in Australia and against Fiji last summer, also join the squad.

Their arrival means the departure of Toulouse second row Richie Gray, whose calf injury has yet to heal, and Saracens centre Duncan Taylor, still sidelined with a head knock. Back-rower Magnus Bradbury, scrum-half Nathan Fowles and prop Murray McCallum also return to Edinburgh, while prop D’arcy Rae returns to Glasgow.

If the additions provide a timely fillip for Scotland, so do memories of their last Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield two years ago. Three of the additions – Scott, Swinson and Nel – played in a match which Scotland started as favourites but which England won 15-9.

England’s first match after the World Cup humiliation and Eddie Jones’s first as coach was a low-key encounter decided by tries from George Kruis and Jack Nowell. England’s squad that day contained 15 players who featured against Wales last week, which proves Scotland can compete with this England side, according to hooker Stuart McInally, who came off the bench that day for his Six Nations debut.

“We weren’t at our best, but it was still close,” he said. “We know that when we get ourselves right we can compete with anyone. We are a better team than we were two years ago, although England are as well. It will be a great match.”

McInally was impressed with England’s tactical discipline against Wales and doesn’t believe the visitors will throw the ball around at Murrayfield on Saturday as they did at Twickenham in last year’s rout.

“Against Wales, they were smart and didn’t try to overplay,” he said. The ball was quite greasy but they kicked a lot and strangled Wales. They played clever.

“They expect their big forwards to run hard and get over the gain line and will work us hard in the scrum and maul. They are a well-rounded team.”

 After the way Scotland unravelled in Cardiff, the unspoken fear is that they could do the same against a resurgent Auld Enemy at Murrayfield. 

“That possibility is definitely in the back of our minds,” said McInally. “You cannot ignore that game, so we will look at where we need to sharpen up. We want to right a few wrongs, especially since we’re back at Murrayfield.”

Scotland squad: Backs M Bennett (Edinburgh), N Grigg (Glasgow), C Harris (Newcastle), S Hogg, P Horne, R Jackson, H Jones (all Glasgow), B Kinghorn (Edinburgh), G Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne), S Maitland (Saracens), A Price, H Pyrgos, F Russell, T Seymour (all Glasgow), M Scott (Gloucester), T Visser (Harlequins). Forwards John Barclay (Scarlets, capt), S Berghan (Edinburgh), J Bhatti (Glasgow), D Denton (Worcester), C Du Preez (Edinburgh), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh), J Gray (Glasgow), L Hamilton (Leicester), R Harley (Glasgow), S Lawson (Newcastle), JMalcolm (Glasgow), S McInally (Edinburgh), W Nel (Edinburgh), G Reid (London Irish), J Strauss (Sale), T Swinson (Glasgow), B Toolis, H Watson (Edinburgh), J Welsh (Newcastle), R Wilson (Glasgow).