Former Kings loose forward Cornell du Preez has been included in Scotland’s 40-man squad for upcoming Six Nations.

The 26-year-old has won five Test caps since making his debut against England in last year’s Six Nations.

Former Western Province and Stormers centre Huw Jones was also recalled by coach Gregor Townsend.

Edinburgh trio Blair Kinghorn, Nathan Fowles and Murray McCallum are the only uncapped players selected by Townsend, while Luke Crosbie and Darcy Graham, both Edinburgh players, have been invited to train with the squad.

Loose forward John Barclay retains the captaincy, after taking over the role from Greig Laidlaw last year.

‘It’s a bigger squad than we originally planned – which is largely down to competition for places – with a number of players having performed well in the autumn Tests and a few others putting their hands up for selection in recent weeks,’ said Townsend.

‘We welcome Blair Kinghorn into our group for the first time, who has been in excellent form with Edinburgh this season, and also three of our most experienced players in Richie Gray, Greig Laidlaw and Scott Lawson.

‘We are looking forward to working with them and the rest of the squad to ensure that we build on the momentum the players generated in 2017.’

Scotland squad – Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar, Nick Grigg, Chris Harris, Stuart Hogg, Pete Horne, Ruaridh Jackson, Huw Jones, Lee Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Greig Laidlaw, Sean Maitland, Byron McGuigan, Ali Price, Henry Pyrgos, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour, Duncan Taylor, Nathan Fowles, John Barclay (c), Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti, Magnus Bradbury, David Denton, Cornell du Preez, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Richie Gray, Luke Hamilton, Rob Harley, Scott Lawson, Murray McCallum, Stuart McInally, Gordon Reid, D’arcy Rae, Ben Toolis, George Turner, Hamish Watson, Jon Welsh, Ryan Wilson.

Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images