Scotland squad named

Scotland will warm up for the tournament with a game against The Army on the side pitch at Murrayfield on Friday, January 18th.

Scotland finished bottom of the table last year, scoring just 12 points in five games and will be looking for a much improved tournament this time around.

With only the top two Six Nations teams, based on 2012 and 2013 results (but excluding France and England) qualifying automatically for the 2014 World Cup, Scotland may well have to qualify the hard way unless there is a major turnaround this season. At the moment they look likely to join Italy in a summer qualifier along with Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Samoa from which one side will go through.

Findlay said: We enjoyed a really positive summer camp, brought in new talent to our Scotland Series matches and saw how the dedicated sevens programme made significant improvements to individual players' fitness and skills levels, providing a good core to moving the whole squad forward.

The continuity in the coaching team [with assistant coaches Chris Reid and Scott Forrest] has really helped and weve been able to bring in specialist coaches to target specific areas, building on our Tuesday evening skills sessions.

"Some players have returned from a season out, such as Annabel Sergeant and Gillian Inglis who have performed well and thoroughly deserve their reinclusion, alongside highly committed new faces such as Nikki McLeod, who is equally comfortable at hooker or in the back row alongside fellow newcomer Kelly Shields, and Jade Konkel who has moved up from the under-20 programme.

There are plenty of new faces coming through which sends out a positive message that theres every opportunity to work your way into the squad.

Scotland kick off their campaign away against England on Saturday 2 February before three home games at three different venues, including a fixture against Wales at Scotstoun, much anticipated by Findlay.

We had a training camp in Glasgow in November and I had the pleasure of coaching at a girls event that ran alongside that. There were a lot of girls there and it was clear to see that much of the good work being done in the clubs and schools is paying dividends, as there were many exciting young talented players from across Scotland taking part.

"So I hope this season's Six Nations - given we are taking our matches to different venues throughout the tournament - will give these young players and the local rugby communities the chance to come along, watch and support the team, and get more people involved with the game.

Scotland Women RBS 6 Nations training squad

BacksLouise Dalgliesh (RHC Cougars)Sarah Dixon (Stirling County)Megan Gaffney (Hillhead/Jordanhill)Tanya Griffith (RHC Cougars)Lauren Harris (Melrose) Gillian Inglis (Melrose)Steph Johnston (RHC Cougars)Sarah Law (Murrayfield Wanderers)Leanne Neary (RHC Cougars)Lisa Ritchie (Carlisle)Annabel Sergeant (Richmond)Laura Steven (Murrayfield Wanderers)

ForwardsTracy Balmer (Worcester)Susie Brown (Richmond)Beth Dickens (Murrayfield Wanderers)Tess Forsberg (Richmond)Jade Konkel (Hillhead/Jordanhill)Mary Lafaiki (Hillhead/Jordanhill)Suzanne McKerlie-Hex (Murrayfield Wanderers)Nikki McLeod (Morgan)Bridget Millar-Mills (Worcester)Becca Parker (Hillhead/Jordanhill)Sarah Quick (Murrayfield Wanderers)Kelly Shields (Murrayfield Wanderers)Lindsey Smith (Hillhead/Jordanhill)Anna Stodter (Loughborough Students)Lindsay Wheeler (Richmond)

SCOTLAND WOMEN fixtures 2013

Friday 18 January Scotland v The Army (training game) Murrayfield k/o 7.15pm

Saturday 2 February Scotland v England Esher, Surrey k/o 2pm

Sunday 10 February Scotland v Italy Mayfield, Dundee k/o2pm

Saturday 23 February Scotland v Ireland Lasswade k/o 2pm

Sunday 10 March Scotland v Wales Scotstoun k/o 2pm (tbc)

Friday 15 March Scotland v France Dijon k/o 7pm