Scotland have named Munster's Ben Healy in their squad for the Six Nations, offering the possibility of a debut against England at Twickenham on 4 February.
Healy will join Edinburgh at the end of the season and Scottish head coach Gregor Townsend has seen to fast-track the out-half into the set-up.
Congratulations to Munster out-half Ben Healy on being named in the Scotland squad for the 2023 6 Nations ?#SUAF ? pic.twitter.com/UWGRRZynoQ
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) January 17, 2023
Adam Hastings has been ruled out due to injury, while England has secured the services of Fin Smith.
This series of events inadvertently opened the door for Healy, who qualifies for Scotland through his grandparents.
He now comes against the duo of Blair Kinghorn and Finn Russell for a place in the 23 when the Scots face England in their Six Nations opener.
Your Scotland squad for the 2023 @SixNationsRugby is here ???????
More ➡️ https://t.co/sjCbHftQhW pic.twitter.com/6SrZWjPrB7
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) January 17, 2023
Munster had offered the 23-year-old an extended contract and made every effort to retain his services.
But he opted to join the Scottish side at the end of the season, having turned down the offer to stay with Munster.
Speaking at the time, head Coach Graham Rowntree commented, "We are hugely disappointed to see Ben depart at the end of the season.
"I’ve noted all along our desire to bring through and develop homegrown talent so to lose a player of Ben’s calibre is tough to take."As a young player Ben is striving to achieve his career goals, and we fully understand his professional aspirations and the journey he is on."For the most part, we are successful in retaining our best talent within our system, however, this is unfortunately out of our hands on this occasion."Ben has been outstanding throughout this lengthy process, and he has been an exemplary professional while discussions have been ongoing in the background.
"Sunday’s performance once again highlights his standing in this squad, and while he will be very much missed on and off the field his contribution will continue to be highly valued in the coming months.”
