Six Nations 2019: Scotland’s strength in depth hailed by Gregor Townsend

After calling up seven uncapped players for the 2019 Six Nations head coach Gregor Townsend has praised the growing strength in depth in Scottish rugby.

Townsend has named a 39-man squad for the Six Nations championship and Scotland’s campaign starts against Italy at Murrayfield on 2 February.

The uncapped players included in the Scotland squad are hookers David Cherry (Edinburgh), Jake Kerr (Leicester Tigers) and Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors); centres Chris Dean (Edinburgh) and Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors); flanker Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons); and prop D’Arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors).

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After a third-placed finish in 2018, Townsend told Sky Sports: “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.

“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.”

Scotland’s 2019 Six Nations squad

• 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 (captain), Sean Maitland, Ali Price, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour

2019 Six Nations fixtures and TV guide

Round one

• 1 February: France vs. Wales (8pm, live on BBC)
• 2 February: Scotland vs. Italy (2.15pm, live on BBC); Ireland vs. England (4.45pm, live on ITV)

Round two

• 9 February: Scotland vs. Ireland (2.15pm, live on BBC); Italy vs. Wales (4.45pm, live on ITV)
• 10 February: England vs. France (3pm, live on ITV)

Round three

• 23 February: France vs. Scotland (2.15pm, live on BBC); Wales vs. England (4.45pm, live on BBC)
• 24 February: Italy vs. Ireland (3pm, live on ITV)

Round four

• 9 March: Scotland vs. Wales (2.15pm, live on BBC); England vs. Italy (3pm, live on ITV)
• 10 March: Ireland vs. France (4.45pm, live on ITV)

Round five

• 16 March: Italy vs. France (12.30pm, live on ITV); Wales vs. Ireland (2.45pm, live on BBC)
• 17 March: England vs. Scotland (5pm, live on BBC)