Scotland call for the player who waited 720 days between his first and second matches

But agony for Max Williamson who reinjures his thumb

The capricious nature of professional sport was vividly illustrated as Gregor Townsend named his 2025 Six Nations squad on Wednesday.

While there was a first call-up for Jack Mann, the Glasgow Warriors back-row forward who has endured a tortuous time with injury and concussions in recent years, there was disappointment for Max Williamson, his team-mate.

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The young lock had made a big impression against world champions South Africa in the autumn but injured his thumb in the Springboks match and needed an operation. He hasn’t played since but had worked his way back to fitness until he suffered fresh agony last week, reinjuring the same thumb.

Jack Mann is one of two uncapped players in the Scotland Six Nations squad.Jack Mann is one of two uncapped players in the Scotland Six Nations squad.
Jack Mann is one of two uncapped players in the Scotland Six Nations squad. | SNS Group

Williamson was therefore a notable omission from Townsend’s 37-man squad, one of a number of wounded parties. Kyle Steyn is the highest profile absentee. The Glasgow captain injured his knee in the win over Racing 92 on Friday night and has been ruled out of Scotland’s opener against Italy at Murrayfield on February 1. The hope is he will return at some point during the tournament and the same applies to Cam Redpath, Adam Hastings and Ben Muncaster who were left out by Townsend as they recovered from various ailments.

Unfortunately for Williamson, he will miss the whole championship.

“Max reinjured his thumb that he had had a surgery on after the South Africa game,” said Townsend. “He was available to play last week for Glasgow until he got a blow in training, so it's a real disappointment for him and us.

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“I thought he was outstanding leading into the November series, he had a brilliant game against South Africa, having been ill the day before, and we just hoped that he'd be available for us to build on what he'd been doing for club and country, but he's going to miss the whole Six Nations now.”

For Mann, the emotions couldn’t be more stark. The Edinburgh-born No 8 made his Glasgow debut against Bath in the European Challenge Cup against Bath Rugby on December 10, 2022. He impressed but suffered a concussion and because he’d had three concussions in the space of 12 months he was stood down for over a year. His comeback last season ended abruptly when, in his own words, his “ankle got blown to pieces” in a training game.

It meant his second Glasgow appearance came 720 days after his first. He played the full 80 minutes in the win over the Scarlets in November and has featured in every Warriors match since, a run of six successive games which convinced Townsend to call him up.

“I can only imagine how tough it was for Jack to go through that period where he had to stand down, where he maybe considered that his rugby career was ending,” said the Scotland coach. “But to have played so well over the last few weeks and now be in the Scotland squad, it's worth it. It's worth all those tough times and he's shown real resilience.”

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Mann has also benefited from Muncaster’s misfortune. The Edinburgh forward made his Scotland debut against Portugal in the autumn and looked on course to be included in Townsend’s squad only to sustain an ankle ligament injury against Vannes on Saturday which has sidelined him for six to eight weeks.

Mann and Saracens fly-half Fergus Burke are the only two uncapped players in Scotland’s Six Nations squad as the experimentation of the autumn gives way to the mainly tried and trusted.

Fergus Burke, left, playing for Saracens.Fergus Burke, left, playing for Saracens.
Fergus Burke, left, playing for Saracens. | Getty Images

Jack Dempsey is another who hasn’t played since the autumn - the Glasgow No 8 injured his shoulder against South Africa - but Townsend expects him to play for the Warriors before the Six Nations begins.

A number of those who featured in the autumn have been left out, notably Johnny Matthews, Alex Samuel, Alex Craig, Ewan Johnson, Mosese Tuipulotu, Arron Reed and Ali Price.

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Dave Cherry returns for the first time since the 2023 Rugby World Cup where he played in Scotland’s opener against South Africa then had to return home when he suffered a concussion after falling down stairs at the team hotel. The 34-year-old Edinburgh man is one of four hookers in the squad alongside Ewan Ashman, Dylan Richardson and Patrick Harrison. Townsend said Gregor Hiddleston of Glasgow was close to making it.

Dave Cherry has won a Scotland recall for the first time since the 2023 Rugby World Cup.Dave Cherry has won a Scotland recall for the first time since the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Dave Cherry has won a Scotland recall for the first time since the 2023 Rugby World Cup. | SNS Group

There is a call-up for second-row Marshall Sykes, preferred to his Edinburgh team-mate Sam Skinner. Sykes won his only full cap against Tonga in 2021.

“It's a reward for Marshall's form and his consistency,” said Townsend. “I thought he did really well at the weekend [as Edinburgh beat Vannes in France]. Sam is very experienced, but he's just back playing. He's still dealing with a knee injury, which you can see the progress he's making, but we feel with, obviously not just Sam in the discussion, but there's a lot of second rows. Cam Henderson's been back playing, played the last five games for Leicester. He was very close to being on our squad. I think similar to Sam, we need to see them playing more rugby.

“We feel it's Marshall that's been playing at that consistent level. He's a big man and he always has been, but he's now using his body both in defence, the nuisance it creates, and also his ball carrying to a better and better effect.”

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Unusually, Scotland open the championship this year with back-to-back home games, Ireland coming to Murrayfield eight days after Italy’s visit. It’s then England away, Wales at home and France in Paris. Townsend talked up Ireland and France’s strengths, noting the return of Antoine Dupont would galvanise the latter after he missed last year’s Six Nations to concentrate on the Olympic Games sevens tournament.

“France will be much stronger this year than they were last year, mainly because one guy is back available for them,” said the Scotland coach.

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