Hawick’s Stuart Hogg set to hit century of caps for Scotland at rugby’s Six Nations after being named in initial 40-man squad

Stuart Hogg playing for Scotland against New Zealand at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium in November (Pic: David Rogers/Getty Images)

Exeter Chiefs full-back Hogg is currently on 96 caps so he could hit double figures even without featuring in all five fixtures, starting in England on Saturday, February 4, and concluding at home to Italy on Saturday, March 19.

The 30-year-old is Scotland’s fourth most-capped player ever at the moment, behind only Sean Lamont on 105 and fellow Borderers Chris Paterson and Ross Ford, on 109 and 110 respectively.

He’s one of two Borderers in the squad announced today by Townsend, the other being Ulster loosehead prop Rory Sutherland, formerly at Hawick and Gala.

Rory Sutherland in action for Scotland versus Fiji at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium in November (Photo by Ross MacDonald/SNS Group/SRU)

Sutherland, also 30, has picked up 22 caps to date.

Also in the squad are ex-Melrose loosehead prop Jamie Bhatti and Cameron Redpath, son of Kelso’s Bryan Redpath, capped 60 times for Scotland between 1993 and 2003.

Hawick’s Darcy Graham is ruled out by injury for now, as is ex-Southern Knights flanker Rory Darge.

Announcing his squad selection, ex-Gala and Border Reivers star Townsend, 49, said: “The Six Nations is around the corner – it’s a very exciting time – and the one year out of every four that we, as coaches, can’t wait for is a Rugby World Cup year.

“Just now I think rugby is so competitive, both within the Six Nations and worldwide, so I feel really grateful and fortunate to be involved.”