Six Nations 2016: Barclay back in Scotland fold as Cotter targets title tilt

Scotland's Six Nations campaign begins at home against England on 6 February

Scotland coach Vern Cotter (Getty Images)

John Barclay, a ball-winning flanker who knows what it is to give England all the trouble they can handle on Calcutta Cup day, is back in the Scotland squad for next month’s Six Nations set-to at Murrayfield. The move will be more popular with folk north of the border, many of whom struggled to understand his omission from the squad for last year’s World Cup, than it will be among those down south.

With Barclay and the highly effective John Hardie, an import from New Zealand, among the scavenging types chasing places in the Scottish back row, England’s fragility at the breakdown looks ever more like a potential Achilles heel. Eddie Jones, the new red-rose coach, has three possible options for the No 7 role in Edinburgh, but only one of them, the Gloucester forward Matt Kvesic, is a specialist on the floor.

Vern Cotter, the Scotland head coach who has fast-tracked two uncapped front-rowers in Rory Sutherland and Zander Fagerson and also recalled a couple of powerful centres in Alex Dunbar and Duncan Taylor, is confident of building on an encouraging World Cup campaign before Christmas. “I think it’s important that we believe we can compete for this title,” he said. “It will be what it will be, but we are going to have a real go.”

Barclay replaces the Glasgow blind-side operator Ryan Wilson – a decision made before Wilson was accused of grabbing the testicles of the Northampton scrum-half Lee Dickson during a European Champions Cup game last weekend and summoned to a disciplinary hearing, which is scheduled to take place this evening. Fagerson could be the youngest prop to play for Scotland in almost 70 years. The Perth-born forward turned 20 yesterday.

France, meanwhile, head into the Six Nations with eight uncapped players, including the impressive Clermont Auvergne lock Paul Jedrasiak and the high-octane Toulouse flanker Yacouba Camara. Most intriguing of all is the appearance of the Fijian-born sevens specialist Virimi Vakatawa, who has played top-flight rugby for the Parisian club Racing 92 but spent recent campaigns concentrating on the short game.

Scotland squad:

Forwards

R Ford, P MacArthur, S McInally, A Dickinson, Z Fagerson, M Low, WP Nel, G Reid, R Sutherland, J Gray, R Gray, T Swinson, B Toolis, A Ashe, J Barclay, B Cowan, D Denton, C Fusaro, J Hardie, J Strauss

Backs

S Hidalgo-Clyne, G Laidlaw (capt), F Russell, D Weir, M Bennett, A Dunbar, P Horne, M Scott, D Taylor, S Lamont, S Maitland, T Seymour, T Visser, S Hogg, R Jackson

France squad:

Forwards

U Atonio, E Ben Arous, A Burban, Y Camara, C Chat, D Chouly, A Flanquart, K Gourdon, G Guirado (capt), P Jedrasiak, W Lauret, Y Maestri, L Picamoles, J Poirot, R Slimani, S Vahaamahina.

Backs

S Bezy, H Bonneval, J Danty, J-M Doussain, A Dumoulin, B Fall, G Fickou, W Fofana, R Lamerat, M Machenaud, M Medard, M Parra, J Plisson, S Spedding, V Vakatawa.