Scotland Women will be able to call upon the services of skipper Rachel Malcolm as she has recovered from injury to be named in Philip Doyle’s squad.
Malcolm joined Doyle in London this week for the official launch of the Women’s Six Nations, and she and full-back Chloe Rollie have both shaken off knocks to take their place in the squad.
Experienced campaigner Sarah Law is also named in the squad while five uncapped players are included.
And Doyle, who will lead the side in the Women’s Six Nations for the first time, is thrilled with the talent at his disposal.
He said: “I am delighted that our captain Rachel Malcolm and Chloe Rollie will be back in the squad for the opening game of the Women’s Six Nations and that Sarah Law will be available near the start of the Championships as well.
“It is great to see some new players coming into the set-up. They can properly challenge for positions in the future and their inclusion is most importantly developing that depth in an important year.
“We are coming off the back of a hugely positive weekend in Spain, so the squad and the management are feeling in a good place for the start of this busy period.
“Whilst we know that this Six Nations will be challenging, we firmly believe that we need to focus on increasing our performances and becoming a properly competitive team within this competition.
“In order to develop our performances ahead of the World Cup Qualifiers, our priority is closing the gap on the stronger nations like England and France.
“Results have not been good enough in previous seasons so now is the time to improve our performances after a positive start to the season.
“I have been focussing on pushing myself, players, staff and Scottish Rugby to improve and everyone is very much working towards the same shared goal right now.”
Scotland open their campaign away to Ireland before welcoming Grand Slam champions England to Scotstoun in Round 2.
Scotland Women squad for 2019 Women’s Six Nations
Forwards
Leah Bartlett (Loughborough Lightning) Christine Belisle (Cartha Queens Park) Sarah Bonar (Loughborough Lightning) Lisa Cockburn (Darlington Mowden Park) Siobhan Cattigan (Stirling County RFC) Mairi Forsyth (Corstorphine Cougars) Evie Gallagher (Edinburgh University) Jade Konkel (Harlequins) Rachel Malcolm (Loughborough Lightning) Rachel McLachlan (Darlington Mowden Park) Louise McMillan (Hillhead Jordanhill) Panashe Muzambe (Watsonians/Edinburgh University) Jodie Rettie (Saracens) Lana Skeldon (Darlington Mowden Park) Emma Wassell (Corstorphine Cougars) Molly Wright (Watsonians)
Backs
Isla Alejandro (Loughborough Lightning) Sarah Denholm (Edinburgh University) Megan Gaffney (Watsonians) Coreen Grant (Saracens) Sarah Law (Darlington Mowden Park) Rachel Law (Edinburgh University) Rhona Lloyd (Loughborough Lightning) Mairi McDonald (Hillhead Jordanhill) Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning) Chloe Rollie (Harlequins) Annabel Sergeant (Heriots RFC) Rachel Shankland (Stirling County) Hannah Smith (Watsonians) Lisa Thomson (Darlington Mowden Park) Evie Tonkin (Darlington Mowden Park) Alex Wallace (Harrogate RFC)
