Faced with the injury of opener Adam Hastings, already injured this fall against Fiji and who finally had to have shoulder surgery at the beginning of January, the coach will still have to continue with Russell, whom he had nevertheless dismissed for the tests, before calling him back.
The main rival of the whimsical number 10 of Racing 92 will be Blair Kinghorn.
Townsend has also called fly-half Ben Healy, an Irish under-20 international, into the group, but who has a Scottish maternal grandmother and who will join Edinburgh next season, after 4 years at Munster.
Three other rookie players are called up: center Stafford McDowall, second line Cameron Henderson, and Bath winger Ruaridh McConnochie, who has 2 caps with England in 2019, but meets the conditions to change selection and play finally with Scotland.
Third line Jamie Ritchie is confirmed captain of this fairly experienced group, with 10 players having passed 50 caps, so full-back and former captain Stuart Hogg who could become a "centenarian" during the competition, since he currently has 96 capes.
Townsend also recalled fullbacks Sean Maitland (34, 53 caps) and Huw Jones (29, 31 caps), while recovering Darcy Graham is out.
Scotland will start their Tournament on February 4 against England, at Twickenham (5:45 p.m.).
Scotland squad for the Six Nations Tournament:
Fronts:
Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown, Dave Cherry, Andy Christie, Luke Crosbie, Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Richie Gray, Cameron Henderson, WP Nel, Jamie Ritchie (cap), Pierre Schoeman, Javan Sebastian, Sam Skinner, Rory Sutherland, George Turner, Hamish Watson
Rears:
Chris Harris, Ben Healy, Stuart Hogg, George Horne, Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Sean Maitland, Ruaridh McConnochie, Stafford McDowell, Ali Price, Cameron Redpath, Finn Russell, Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Ben White
© 2023 AFP