BEN HEALY HAS been named in the Scotland Six Nations squad.
The Munster out-half qualifies for Scotland through his grandmother. Healy, from Co Tipperary, made eight appearances for the Ireland U20 team in 2019.
The 23-year old has made 48 senior appearances for Munster, amassing 283 points. He is set to join Edinburgh at the end of the season.
Earlier this month, after Healy’s impressive performance in Munster’s win against the Lions, the province’s head coach Graham Rowntree was asked how difficult it was to manage the situation.
“It’s been a long process. We initiated talks with him a long time ago. He’s taken his time — we’ve not pressured him, and I think he’s acknowledged that,” he said.
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“He’s made his decision but it’s not affected [his conduct]. Throughout all of this, we’ve not been picking him — for most of the last six weeks.”
Were those two things related?
“No, not at all,” Rowntree said firmly. “It’s been on form. And we stand by that.
“But his attitude during that time has not dropped off at all. He’s been fantastic in training even with us not picking him and with this [decision] in the back of his mind — or at the front of his mind.
“I can’t speak highly enough about him. And we have a good relationship. We’ve all been up front.”
Scotland, meanwhile, have also taken advantage of world rugby’s recent change in eligibility rules to include English cap Ruaridh McConnochie in their Six Nations squad.
Your Scotland squad for the 2023 @SixNationsRugby is here 🏴
In a similar move to the one that allowed Jack Dempsey to convert from Australia to Scotland earlier this season, Gregor Townsend has persuaded the 31-year-old Bath wing to pledge his allegiance to the nation of his father’s birth three and a half years after making two appearances – including one at the 2019 World Cup – for England.
The other uncapped players in Townsend’s 40-man squad are Glasgow centre Stafford McDowall and Leicester second-row Cameron Henderson.
Darcy Graham, who scored a hat-trick of tries in Scotland’s last match against Argentina in November, has not been included as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury. It remains to be seen if he will be fit enough to be called in during the tournament.
Hamish Watson and Zander Fagerson are included despite being sidelined by injury in recent months, but Scott Cummings, Rory Darge and Adam Hastings – who have also been battling fitness issues – have not made the squad.
Experienced pair Sean Maitland and Huw Jones have both earned recalls to the national team set-up.
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Ben Healy named in Scotland's Six Nations squad
LAST UPDATE | 17 Jan 2023
BEN HEALY HAS been named in the Scotland Six Nations squad.
The Munster out-half qualifies for Scotland through his grandmother. Healy, from Co Tipperary, made eight appearances for the Ireland U20 team in 2019.
The 23-year old has made 48 senior appearances for Munster, amassing 283 points. He is set to join Edinburgh at the end of the season.
Earlier this month, after Healy’s impressive performance in Munster’s win against the Lions, the province’s head coach Graham Rowntree was asked how difficult it was to manage the situation.
“It’s been a long process. We initiated talks with him a long time ago. He’s taken his time — we’ve not pressured him, and I think he’s acknowledged that,” he said.
“He’s made his decision but it’s not affected [his conduct]. Throughout all of this, we’ve not been picking him — for most of the last six weeks.”
Were those two things related?
“No, not at all,” Rowntree said firmly. “It’s been on form. And we stand by that.
“But his attitude during that time has not dropped off at all. He’s been fantastic in training even with us not picking him and with this [decision] in the back of his mind — or at the front of his mind.
“I can’t speak highly enough about him. And we have a good relationship. We’ve all been up front.”
Scotland, meanwhile, have also taken advantage of world rugby’s recent change in eligibility rules to include English cap Ruaridh McConnochie in their Six Nations squad.
In a similar move to the one that allowed Jack Dempsey to convert from Australia to Scotland earlier this season, Gregor Townsend has persuaded the 31-year-old Bath wing to pledge his allegiance to the nation of his father’s birth three and a half years after making two appearances – including one at the 2019 World Cup – for England.
The other uncapped players in Townsend’s 40-man squad are Glasgow centre Stafford McDowall and Leicester second-row Cameron Henderson.
Darcy Graham, who scored a hat-trick of tries in Scotland’s last match against Argentina in November, has not been included as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury. It remains to be seen if he will be fit enough to be called in during the tournament.
Hamish Watson and Zander Fagerson are included despite being sidelined by injury in recent months, but Scott Cummings, Rory Darge and Adam Hastings – who have also been battling fitness issues – have not made the squad.
Experienced pair Sean Maitland and Huw Jones have both earned recalls to the national team set-up.
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