Six Nations 2018: Greig Laidlaw replaced as Scotland captain as Gregor Townsend names Stuart Hogg in 40-man squad

Greig Laidlaw has been replaced as Scotland captain despite returning to the international fold for next month’s Six Nations championship, with head coach Gregor Townsend electing to stick with back-row John Barclay as skipper.

Barclay has led Scotland in all nine of Scotland’s test matches since Laidlaw suffered injury in last year’s championship, and despite the Clermont Auvergne scrum-half returning to the side for the first time in nearly a year, Townsend has decided to go for continuity and keep Scarlets forward Barclay as captain of a side that includes four uncapped players.

Full-back Blair Kinghorn, scrum-half Nathan Fowles and prop Murray McCallum are all called up from Edinburgh, with Glasgow Warriors prop D’arcy Rae also named as part of an enlarged 40-man squad.

Townsend also has the luxury of naming a number of fit-again regulars, with British and Irish Lion Laidlaw joined in the side by Toulouse lock Richie Gray, Edinburgh centre Mark Bennett, Saracens’ Duncan Taylor and Worcester Warriors back-row David Denton, who returns for the first time since the 2016 tour of Japan after an unlucky run of injuries.

Another Lions member in Stuart Hogg is named in the side despite making just four appearances this season due to injury, although the full-back looks poised for a return for Glasgow this weekend in their final European Champions Cup match against Exeter Chiefs after returning to training following a hip problem.

There are also recalls for Newcastle Falcons prop Jon Welsh and club teammate Scott Lawson, with the hooker named for the first time in four years.

“With the announcement of this 40-man squad, we are now entering the key stages of our preparation for this year’s NatWest Six Nations Championship,” said Townsend, who also named Edinburgh’s Luke Crosbie and Darcy Graham and Adam Hastings of Glasgow Warriors in the squad following invitations to train with the national team.

“It’s a bigger squad than we originally planned –which is largely down to the competition for places – with a number of players having performed well in the autumn Tests and a few others putting their hands up for selection in recent weeks.

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“We welcome Blair Kinghorn into our group for the first time, who has been in excellent form with Edinburgh this season, and also three of our most experienced players in Richie Gray, Greig Laidlaw and Scott Lawson.

“We are looking forward to working with them and the rest of the squad to ensure that we build on the momentum the players generated in 2017.”

Backs: Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar, Nick Grigg, Chris Harris, Stuart Hogg, Pete Horne, Ruaridh Jackson Huw Jones, Lee Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Greig Laidlaw, Sean Maitland, Byron McGuigan, Ali Price, Henry Pyrgos, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour, Duncan Taylor, Nathan Fowles.

Forwards: John Barclay, Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti, Magnus Bradbury, David Denton, Cornell Du Preez, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Richie Gray, Luke Hamilton, Rob Harley, Scott Lawson, Murray McCallum, Stuart McInally, Gordon Reid, D’arcy Rae, Ben Toolis, George Turner, Hamish Watson, Jon Welsh, Ryan Wilson.