Scotland lose one of their 'South African imports'

INJURY UPDATE: Scotland has lost some of its South African beef, ahead of their Six Nations opener.

South African-born WP Nel has withdrawn from the team to face Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

He is struggling with a neck strain.

Javan Sebastian and Ross Thompson have been have been added to the Scotland squad.

Edinburgh prop Sebastian was not included in the initial 39-man pool, named earlier this month, as he battled to recover from a knee injury sustained in December.

However, the 29-year-old – who went to the World Cup with Scotland – has now been deemed fit enough to be enlisted for duty in place of Nel - also from Edinburgh.

Glasgow flyhalf Thompson has also been called up to compete with Finn Russell and Ben Healy for the No.10 jersey after Adam Hastings dropped out through injury last week.

Warriors pair Euan Ferrie and Jamie Dobie are not officially part of the squad, but are currently training with the players in Spain as they step up preparations for Saturday's showdown with Wales in Cardiff.

UPDATED SCOTLAND SQUAD

FORWARDS: Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Jamie Bhatti, Andy Christie, Luke Crosbie, Scott Cummings, Jack Dempsey, Rory Darge (co-captain), Grant Gilchrist, Richie Gray, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Alec Hepburn, Johnny Matthews, Elliot Millar-Mills, , Jamie Ritchie, Pierre Schoeman, Javan Sebastian, Sam Skinner, George Turner, Glen Young.

BACKS: Ben Healy, George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Stafford McDowall, Ross McCann, Harry Paterson, Ali Price, Cameron Redpath, Arron Reed, Kyle Rowe, Finn Russell, Kyle Steyn, Ross Thompson, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Ben White.