Scotland rugby head coach Gregor Townsend names two fellow Borderers in squad for 2026 Six Nations

The region’s two representatives in the former Gala and Border Reivers back’s 40-strong squad are Hawick’s Darcy Graham and Rory Sutherland.

Right-winger Graham, 28, is one of nine Edinburgh players called up and loosehead prop Sutherland, 33, is among 19 from their United Rugby Championship rivals Glasgow Warriors, also including captain Sione Tuipulotu.

The pair have just short of a century of caps between them, with the former currently on 50 and the latter on 46.

This year’s Six Nations selection is the second on the bounce for both, West Linton’s Patrick Harrison having joined them in an initial squad of 37 last time round.

That followed Graham being ruled out of 2023 and 2024’s championships by injury, though Jedburgh’s Glen Young was called up for the latter, with Sutherland being added later, and Sutherland and fellow ex-Green Stuart Hogg were named in the year before’s squad.

Sutherland made his Six Nations debut back in 2016, followed by Graham three years later.

Graham’s 16 fellow backs in 2026’s squad are Fergus Burke, Jamie Dobie, Adam Hastings, George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Huw Jones, Tom Jordan, Blair Kinghorn, Stafford McDowall, Finn Russell, Kyle Rowe, Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn, Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe and Ben White.

Sutherland is one of 23 forwards, the others being former Southern Knight Rory Darge, Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Magnus Bradbury, Gregor Brown, Dave Cherry, Scott Cummings, Alex Craig, Jack Dempsey, Freddy Douglas, Matt and Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Nathan McBeth, Liam McConnell, Elliot Millar Mills, D’Arcy Rae, Jamie Ritchie, Pierre Schoeman, George Turner and Max Williamson.

Scotland begin this year’s championship away to Italy in Rome on Saturday, February 7, with kick-off at 2.10pm, and they’ll be looking to bounce back from a 31-29 defeat on their last visit to the city’s Stadio Olimpico in March 2024.

They then host England at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium on Saturday, February 14, and head to Cardiff to play Wales a week later, both 4.40pm kick-offs.

They wrap up this year’s campaign with two March fixtures, at home to France on Saturday the 7th and away to Ireland in Dublin seven days later, both 2.10pm kick-offs.

Melrose’s Harri Morris, given his first full international call-up during the Scots’ autumn tests, misses out on senior selection this time round, but the 24-year-old hooker, a teammate of Graham’s at Edinburgh, is to play for a Scotland A side against an Italian XV in Rieti in Lazio on Friday, February 6, with kick-off at 6.30pm.

He’s part of a training squad of 15 to be supplemented by members of the Scottish senior squad not selected for the day after’s Six Nations match.

Graham and Sutherland were both in action for their clubs at the weekend, the former playing all 80 minutes of a 63-10 thumping away to Bath on Friday and the latter being brought on as a 47th-minute replacement for Patrick Schickerling during a 28-3 victory hosting London’s Saracens two days later, with Morris and lock Young, 31, also featuring for Edinburgh, respectively taking over from Ashman on 25 minutes and starting.

This year’s Six Nations will be Townsend’s ninth since taking charge of the national team in 2017, finishing third in 2018 and 2023; fourth in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025; and fifth in 2019.

Announcing his selection, the 52-year-old said: “Our Six Nations squad is full of players that are either in really good form or have been in Six Nations squads before for our last few campaigns, and some of them are in really good form as well, so it was a difficult squad to select.

“I think I’m so privileged to be going into another Six Nations. I can’t wait to be working with the players again.

“When I see the team, I see players in really good form. It excites me for what’s coming up ahead.

“We’ve got players coming in on the back of really good form and good performances in Europe and players coming back from injury that we missed in November.”

Edinburgh’s van der Merwe, 30, is one such player returning after injury and Townsend is hoping to see him and teammate Graham – Scotland’s two top try-scorers of all time, the South African with 35 and the Borderer only one behind – back at their best at home to South Africa’s Bulls this Friday after finding touchdowns hard to come by this season, the former having scored once in seven games and the latter four times in eight.

“We’ve got a great bunch of wingers just now and we just want to see them back and thriving, getting on the ball, scoring tries, creating tries for others, working hard,” he said.

“I think once they’re with us they’ll be working hard, I’m sure.

“The good thing is they’re both fit. Darcy’s had a couple of niggles but not too bad, and Duhan’s obviously just been out with an injury, but it looks like they’re both fully fit again for this week.”