Jason's the White man

Scotland coach Frank Hadden has named back-row forward Jason White as captain for the forthcoming 2008 RBS Six Nations Championships.

Coach Hadden keeps faith with White as skipper

Scotland coach Frank Hadden has named back-row forward Jason White as captain for the forthcoming 2008 RBS Six Nations Championships. White was first appointed as captain in the 2005 Autumn Tests - but the 31-year-old missed last season's Six Nation's Championship after sustaining a knee injury. The back-row forward was pivotal in leading Scotland to the quarter-finals of the 2007 World Cup and Hadden had no doubt about awarding White the captaincy. He told www.scottishrugby.org: "Jason is a key figure for us. He sets the tone as a leader both on and off the field and I look forward to working with him again during this season's championship". Hadden named a 35-man squad of which 22 are home based. The six uncapped players named are Edinburg backs Ben Cairns, Nick de Luca and Calum MacRae, Glasgow win Thom Evans and prop Moray Low and Edinburgh back-row forward Ross Rennie. Cairns, 22, is a product of the Scotland age group set-up and he is listed in the senior squad for the first time, while wing Simon Danielli returns after missing the World Cup through injury. The Scotland coach is impressed with the strength in depth the nation is developing, and believes the competition for places is crucial.

Talent

"I continue to be impressed with the competition for places," he said. "A number of players have maintained their good form from the World Cup but they are going to be pushed extremely hard by some of our young, up and coming talent in the next few weeks." Three players omitted from the squad since the World Cup are lock Scott Murray, prop Craig Smith and hooker Scott Lawson. One player who ruled himself out of a potential call-up- is Toulouse centre Marcus Di Rollo. His decision to make himself unavailable for selection was in order to show full commitment to his club side. However he has not ruled out the possibility of returning to the international fray in the near future. Di Rollo said: "Making myself unavailable for Scotland was not a decision I took lightly. "After a period of injury and transition from Scotland to France I felt it would be beneficial for my game to take some time to settle into my new club." Scotland squad - Backs: M Blair, B Cairns (both Edinburgh), C Cusiter (Perpignan), S Danielli (Ulster), N De Luca (Edinburgh), T Evans (Glasgow Warriors), P Godman (Edinburgh), R Lamont (Sale Sharks), R Lawson (Gloucester), C MacRae (Edinburgh), G Morrison, D Parks (both Glasgow Warriors), C Paterson (Gloucester), H Southwell (Edinburgh), N Walker (Ospreys), S Webster (Edinburgh).
Forwards: J Barclay, J Beattie, K Brown (all Glasgow Warriors), D Callam (Edinburgh), A Dickinson (Gloucester), R Ford (Edinburgh), J Hamilton (Leicester Tigers), N Hines (Perpignan), A Hogg, A Jacobsen (both Edinburgh), A Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), G Kerr (Edinburgh), M Low (Glasgow Warriors), S MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), Euan Murray (Northampton), R Rennie (Edinburgh), A Strokosch (Gloucester), F Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), J White (Sale, capt).