Gloucester Rugby’s Chris Harris and Stephen Varney- the only Cherry and White’s expected to feature in Round one of the Six Nations

Six Nations returns this weekend, with England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland having already released their teams. Five Gloucester Rugby players have been included in international squad’s ahead of the tournament.

The five selected players have been picked by the four nations of England, Wales, Scotland and Italy.

England have brought in a new coaching setup led by former Leicester Tigers boss Steve Borthwick, whereas Wales have brought back their trusted and iconic former coach Warren Gatland to do damage control following the sacking of Wayne Pivac in the Autumn.

Louis Rees-Zammit

Winger Louis Rees-Zammit is still dealing with an ankle injury that he picked up on Christmas Eve against Leicester, therefore has not been selected in Warren Gatland’s squad to face Ireland in Cardiff.

He is still with the Welsh camp and will be hoping for a return to full fitness before the tournament ends.

Chris Harris

Centre Chris Harris has been selected on the bench by Scotland coach Gregor Townsend, to face England at Twickenham in the Calcutta Cup.

This selection has perhaps come as a shock to many fans, who believe that Harris should be a starter given his wealth of experience.

Townsend has opted to select the pairing of Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu at centre instead. However, Harris is likely to make an appearance from the bench during the game.

George Mcguigan

George Mcguigan joined Gloucester from Newcastle in December 2022, and has been selected in Steve Borthwick’s first 36-man Six Nations squad.

The Hooker was first called up to the international team in June 2022 by Eddie Jones, but is yet to make his international debut.

He will have to wait a little longer for his first cap, as he has been withdrawn from the squad with a knee injury and will not feature at this year’s tournament.

Jake Polledri and Stephen Varney

Back Rower Jake Polledri and Scrum Half Stephen Varney were both selected in Italy’s 34-man Six Nations squad.

Italy play defending champions France, on Sunday at the Stadio Olimpico.

The duo have 34 international caps between them for the Azzurri, with Stephen Varney set to take the tally to 35 this weekend, as it has just been announced that he will start against France at Scrum Half.

Jake Polledri misses out on the matchday 23 on this occasion.

This is Jake Polledri’s first call up since his 18 month long injury.