MUSSELBURGH-born centre Huw Jones has been included in the Scotland squad for the Six Nations, which begins next month.

Jones, who grew up in Musselburgh before moving to England, was one of the stars of the November series, and scored two tries on his home debut against Australia.

The 23-year-old is included despite picking up an ankle injury in the win over Argentina, and not having played a competitive match since – his South African club side Stormers are currently in their off-season.

He is joined in the squad by uncapped Edinburgh Rugby pair Simon Berghan and Cornell Du Preez, while centre Matt Scott is handed a recall.

Scotland head coach Vern Cotter, himself an East Lothian resident, was looking forward to this year’s Championships – his last in charge before he takes over as head coach at Montpellier.

Cotter, Scotland boss since 2014, said: “I think if we get our mindset right we can be competitive and push for wins in every game in this campaign.”

Scotland’s Six Nations campaign begins as they welcome Ireland to BT Murrayfield Stadium next Saturday (February 4).

The New Zealander is looking forward to facing Joe Schmidt’s Ireland side.

He said: “Ireland are now ranked highly in the world, and deservedly so, after wins over New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, so it’s a tough start.

“I think the addition of bonus points will probably open up the games a little more and I think that’s a good thing.

"I think we’ll see a little more play and perhaps a few more risks in the game, which is exciting.”

Jones and his colleagues met at the Oriam facility in Edinburgh on Monday.

Meanwhile, North Berwick rugby star Megan Gaffney has been named in the Scotland Women squad for the upcoming Six Nations.

Gaffney, who has 20 caps, was part of a 32-player squad named by head coach Shade Munro.

The versatile back, equally at home on the wing or at centre, was an ever-present in the side last season.

Munro, the former Glasgow Warriors assistant coach, said: “The Women’s Six Nations is a great platform to develop the squad and benchmark progress as we work towards closing the gap with world-class nations.

“We’ve added more training camps and competitive games this season to better prepare both the new and experienced players for the task ahead.

“In this tournament, our focus is really on us.

"There’s no doubt we have progressed in a number of areas, but there is a lot more we can do to improve.”

Gaffney and her colleagues open their Six Nations campaign against Ireland at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld next Friday (February 3). 

They then take on France in La Rochelle before returning to Lanarkshire to face Wales. 

A trip to the Twickenham Stoop follows for the clash with England, and they round off the championships with a home match, again at Broadwood, against Italy.