Scotland's Six Nations squad has seven uncapped players

Scotland have included seven uncapped players in the squad for the upcoming Six Nations tournament that kicks-off in the first week of February.

Fraser Brown and George Turner are out injured allowing opportunities for David Cherry (Edinburgh), Jake Kerr (Leicester Tigers) and Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors) a first shot with the national squad after consistent performance with their respective clubs.

Chris Dean, Sam Johnson, Gary Graham and D'Arcy Rae are the other uncapped players in the 39-man squad named by Gregor Townsend.

Johnson missed out on the autumn internationals with injury while Graham failed to get any opportunity during the November series. Rae and Stewart were part of the summer squad during 2017 and 2018 tours respectively but haven't yet made their Test debut.

Newcastle Falcons' John Hardie is recalled in the squad along with Glasgow's Jamie Bhatti while Alex Dunbar, Gordon Reid and Henry Pyrgos all miss out.

“There’s certainly been a lot of improvement from this group of players in recent seasons and I believe there’s much more to come. They’ve a genuine desire to get better and reach their potential in what is a huge year for our sport," head coach Townsend told the official website of Scotland.

“In the past 18 months we’ve played 18 Test matches and have introduced 18 new players to Test-level rugby. Once again, our squad features players aiming to take that step, which is a testimony to their performances this season and the growing strength in depth of Scottish rugby.

“We are very proud of what a number of our players have achieved since the Autumn Tests, particularly with Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors both aiming to make the last eight of the Heineken Champions Cup for the first time and both sitting in strong positions in their respective Guinness PRO14 conferences.

“We’ve also seen some excellent performances from players representing clubs in France and England, which is a credit to their commitment and work ethic.

“It is a privilege for our players to be involved in the Guinness Six Nations, which is such a prestigious tournament and will be highly competitive once again.

“We look forward to taking on the challenge of Italy and working hard as a squad over the next two weeks to deliver a winning performance.”

The list also has a total of 19 players unavailable for selection due to injuries.

Scotland squad for 2019 Six Nations:

Forwards: Alex Allan, Adam Ashe, Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti, David Cherry, Allan Dell, Grant Gilchrist, Gary Graham, Jonny Gray, John Hardie, Jake Kerr, Stuart McInally, Willem Nel, D’Arcy Rae, Jamie Ritchie, Sam Skinner, Grant Stewart, Josh Strauss, Tim Swinson, Ben Toolis, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson

Backs: Chris Dean, Darcy Graham, Nick Grigg, Sam Johnson, Chris Harris, Adam Hastings, Stuart Hogg, George Horne, Pete Horne, Huw Jones, Lee Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Greig Laidlaw, Sean Maitland, Ali Price, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour