Cornell Du Preez and Matt Scott in Scotland's Six Nations squad

Cornell Du Preez and Matt Scott are among the standout names in Scotland's 37-man Six Nations squad.

Uncapped Edinburgh forward Du Preez - born in South Africa - makes Vern Cotter's training squad after completing a three-year residency period.

And centre Scott's club form for Gloucester earns him a recall after he missed out on Scotland's autumn internationals.

Prop Simon Berghan is another uncapped Edinburgh forward included, while club-mate Ben Toolis also gets a call-up, but Willie Nel's participation rests on the results of a scan on his injured neck.

In the backs Edinburgh's Duncan Weir is brought in as another stand-off option, with Scott bolstering the midfield along with Saracens' Duncan Taylor, who was injured in the autumn.

Cotter said: "It's a well-balanced and exciting group that have played a lot of rugby together, know each other well and are ambitious to do well in a Scotland jersey.

"I think if we get our mind-set right we can be competitive and push for wins in every game in this campaign.

"When you look down the list of names from Greig Laidlaw as captain, a solid locking group that's been together for a while, a familiar group of loose forwards who have played consistently well for their clubs, with John Hardie expected to return to fitness shortly.

"The backline gives us a little versatility with Huw Jones able to play several positions, as can Duncan Taylor. Duncan Weir returns alongside Finn Russell, who'll be working to run games, with settled back-three options available to us once again."

Scotland finished fourth in last year's Six Nations and open up this year with a home game against Ireland on February 4.

Scotland squad:

Backs: G Laidlaw (Gloucester), A Price (Glasgow), H Pyrgos (Glasgow), F Russell (Glasgow), D Weir (Edinburgh), M Bennett (Glasgow, A Dunbar (Glasgow), H Jones (Stormers), M Scott (Gloucester), D Taylor (Saracens), S Hogg (Glasgow), D Hoyland (Edinburgh), S Maitland (Saracens), T Seymour (Glasgow), T Visser (Harlequins).

Forwards: A Allan (Glasgow), S Berghan (Edinburgh), A Dell (Edinburgh), Z Fagerson (Glasgow), W Nel (Edinburgh), G Reid (Glasgow), J Welsh (Newcastle), F Brown (Glasgow), R Ford (Edinburgh), S McInally (Edinburgh), J Gray (Glasgow), R Gray (Toulouse), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh), T Swinson (Glasgow), B Toolis (Edinburgh), J Barclay (Scarlets), C Du Preez (Edinburgh), J Hardie (Edinburgh), R Harley (Glasgow), J Strauss (Glasgow), H Watson (Edinburgh), R Wilson (Glasgow).