Cotter defends decision to give call to New Zealand-born Blake

Scotland coach Vern Cotter has defended his decision to call up New Zealand-born flanker Hugh Blake for his RBS 6 Nations squad.

The Edinburgh loose forward is one of four uncapped players from the capital club to be named in Cotter’s 32-man squad ahead of next month’s championship opener in Paris.

But the highly-rated 22-year-old only moved to Scotland last month on a six-month deal and has yet to appear for the Gunners.