Five players called up ahead of Six Nations opener

27 Jan 2025

Gregor Townsend has called up five players ahead of the opening weekend of the Guinness Six Nations when Scotland take on Italy at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - DECEMBER 14: Scotland's Ollie Smith in action during a friendly match between Emerging Scotland and Italy U-23's at the Hive Stadium, on December 14, 2024, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)

Euan Ferrie, Cameron Henderson, Ewan Johnson, Alexander Masibaka and Ollie Smith have all joined up with the squad.

Masibaka will replace Josh Bayliss in the squad, who sustained a groin injury playing for Bath in their victory over Sale Sharks. He will remain with Bath for further assessment to determine exact timescales.

Alexander Masibaka has impressed this season in Pro D2 with French side Soyaux-Angoulême. The 23-year-old is currently on loan from Montpellier having previously played for the Western Force. He plays across the back-row and qualifies for Scotland through his Paisley born mother.

Uncapped Euan Ferrie was a member of the URC winning Glasgow Warriors squad last season and has previously trained with the national team. Since returning from injury Ferrie has played the last three games for Warriors, appearing in both the second and back row.

Cameron Henderson made his debut for Scotland in 2023 against Italy before sustaining a knee injury at the end of the year. He has since bounced back, playing in Leicester Tigers last seven matches.

Ewan Johnson made his debut on Scotland’s summer tour last year, in a 73-12 victory over Canada. The Oyonnax second-row also made his first appearance at Scottish Gas Murrayfield against Portugal in 2024 and played in the Scotland A victory over Chile at the end of the year.

Ollie Smith made his long-awaited comeback in a Glasgow Warriors jersey at the weekend in their win over Connacht and caps off his return from injury with a call-up to the Scotland squad after playing for Emerging Scotland at the tail end of last year.

Scotland squad for the 2025 Guinness Six Nations (caps in brackets):

Forwards (23)

Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (22)
Jamie Bhatti – Glasgow Warriors (35)
Gregor Brown – Glasgow Warriors (4)
Dave Cherry – Edinburgh Rugby (11)
Luke Crosbie – Edinburgh Rugby (12)
Rory Darge – Co-Captain – Glasgow Warriors (25)
Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors (22)
Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (50)
Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (70)
Euan Ferrie – Glasgow Warriors (uncapped)
Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby (75)
Jonny Gray – Bordeaux Bègles (77)
Cameron Henderson – Leicester Tigers (1)
Patrick Harrison – Edinburgh Rugby (3)
Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (4)
Ewan Johnson – Oyonnax (4)
Jack Mann – Glasgow Warriors (uncapped)
Alexander Masibaka – Soyaux-Angoulême (uncapped)
D’Arcy Rae – Edinburgh Rugby (2)
Jamie Ritchie – Edinburgh Rugby (54)
Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby (37)
Rory Sutherland – Glasgow Warriors (37)
Marshall Sykes – Edinburgh Rugby (1)

Backs (16)

Fergus Burke – Saracens (uncapped)
Matt Currie – Edinburgh Rugby (4)
Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors (9)
Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby (42)
George Horne – Glasgow Warriors (34)
Rory Hutchinson – Northampton Saints (8)
Huw Jones – Glasgow Warriors (53)
Tom Jordan – Glasgow Warriors (3)
Blair Kinghorn – Toulouse (55)
Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (8)
Finn Russell – Co-Captain – Bath Rugby (82)
Arron Reed – Sale Sharks (3)
Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (9)
Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby (44)
Ollie Smith – Glasgow Warriors (9)
Ben White – Toulon (24)

 

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