SCOTLAND HEAD COACH Gregor Townsend has called up five players ahead of the opening weekend of the Guinness Six Nations when Scotland take on Italy at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

Euan Ferrie, Cameron Henderson, Ewan Johnson, Alexander Masibaka and Ollie Smith have all joined up with the squad.

Masibaka will replace Josh Bayliss in the squad, who sustained a groin injury playing for Bath in their victory over Sale Sharks. He will remain with Bath for further assessment to determine exact timescales.

Others that have sustained injury since the original squad was named on 15 January include Sione Tuipulotu, Dylan Richardson and Scott Cummings.

Ireland travel to Murrayfield to meet Scotland in Round 2 of the Six Nations on 9 February.

Alexander Masibaka has impressed this season in Pro D2 with French side Soyaux-Angoulême. The 23-year-old is currently on loan from Montpellier having previously played for the Western Force. Born and raised in Western Australia, he plays across the back-row and qualifies for Scotland through his Paisley born mother.

Uncapped Euan Ferrie was a member of the URC winning Glasgow Warriors squad last season and has previously trained with the national team.

Cameron Henderson made his debut for Scotland in 2023 against Italy before sustaining a knee injury at the end of the year. He has since bounced back, playing well and consistently for Leicester Tigers recently.

Ewan Johnson made his debut on Scotland’s summer tour last year, in a 73-12 victory over Canada. The Oyonnax second-row also made his first appearance at Scottish Gas Murrayfield against Portugal in 2024 and played in the Scotland A victory over Chile at the end of the year.

Ollie Smith made his long-awaited comeback in a Glasgow Warriors jersey at the weekend in their win over Connacht and caps off his return from injury with a call-up to the Scotland squad after playing for Emerging Scotland at the tail end of last year.

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