Hawick’s Rory Sutherland now Borders’ last man standing in Scots’ Six Nations squad as Glen Young drops out

​Loosehead prop Sutherland, currently with French side Oyonnax but reportedly on the move to Glasgow Warriors soon, was left out of the original squad for the championship announced by head coach Gregor Townsend in January but got a belated call-up ahead of their 31-29 loss to Italy in Rome on Saturday.

The Hawick 31-year-old’s arrival doubled the Borders contingent in ex-Gala player Townsend’s squad but Jedburgh’s Glen Young has now been released, along with team-mate Hamish Watson and former Melrose loosehead prop Jamie Bhatti, leaving him as the region’s sole representative.

Neither Sutherland, capped 29 times since 2016, nor three-times-capped Edinburgh lock Young, 29, were selected for the side beaten in the Italian capital.

That was the fourth time on the trot that a Scottish match-day squad was devoid of Borderers, the first time that had happened since 1921.

The closest thing to a representative of the region at the Stadio Olimpico was French-born Bath centre Cameron Redpath, one of ex-Melrose scrum-half Bryan Redpath’s sons.

Scotland’s last game of the championship is away to Ireland this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 4.45pm, and Townsend, 50, is scheduled to announce his squad for that trip tomorrow, March 14.

The Scots go into that finale sitting third in the table, with 11 points from four fixtures, two places and five points worse off than their table-topping hosts, as they bid to end a nine-match losing streak against the Irish.