Rugby-Scotland include uncapped Redpath in Six Nations squad
Jan 20 (Reuters) - Scotland have included Bath centre Cameron Redpath in their 35-man squad for the Six Nations after winning a potential tug-of-war with England for the player.
Redpath's father Bryan won 60 caps at scrumhalf for Scotland and captained the team but an approach to the player for the Autumn internationals late last year failed, though he has now committed to coach Gregor Townsend's rebuild of the squad.
"We have spoken to him for a while," Townsend said on Wednesday. "We wanted him in the autumn, but he did not feel it was the right time to commit to either team.
"But he has made that decision now and saying yes to us, we see him as a big part of the Six Nations campaign. He has played really well for Bath."
Flyhalf Finn Russell returns from injury in a major boost, while back row Gary Graham, wing Byron McGuigan, hooker Grant Stewart and Irish prop Alan Dell are also back in the squad.
Aside from Redpath, there are three other uncapped players in hookers David Cherry and Ewan Ashman, and lock Alex Craig.
"The depth we have across the squad enables us to bring in some new players who have excelled in recent weeks and others who we believe can perform at Test level," Townsend said.
"Our tournament gets off to a fantastic start with a fixture we look forward to every year against England (on Feb. 6) and the opportunity to win back the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham.
"As coaches we have selected a group which we believe can build on the work our players put in throughout the recent Autumn Nations Cup campaign and kick on again in terms of performance levels."
Squad:
Forwards (20):
Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks) - Uncapped
Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) – 28 caps
David Cherry (Edinburgh) – Uncapped
Alex Craig (Gloucester) - Uncapped
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) – 17 caps
Allan Dell – London Irish – 32 caps
Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps
Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) – 2 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 42 caps
Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) – 61 caps
Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 65 caps
Oli Kebble (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps
Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 40 caps
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) – 23 caps
Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps
Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh) – 11 caps
Blade Thomson (Scarlets) – 9 caps
George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 36 caps
Backs (15):
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) – 15 caps
Chris Harris (Gloucester) – 23 caps
Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) CAPTAIN – 80 caps
Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 26 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 25 caps
James Lang (Harlequins) – 5 caps
Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 50 caps
Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks) – 10 caps
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 37 caps
Cameron Redpath – (Bath Rugby) - Uncapped
Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 51 caps
Scott Steele (Harlequins) – 1 cap
Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 28 caps
Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh) – 1 cap
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh) – 5 caps (Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken Ferris)