Denton has been named in Vern Cotter’s squad who will complete a two-game tour of Japan in June.

Cotter, said: “Being a two-match tour, rather than three, allows us to take a smaller squad; a tight group, though opportunities still remain for other players to come in.

“This squad still has a lot of work to do to get better and this is another opportunity to analyse our last game against Ireland and the RBS 6 Nations Championship as a whole, in order to move forward.

“We will be working on becoming smarter in the way that we look to win, with winning, of course, being our focus.”

Atkins and Mercer are both selected in Head Coach Martin Haag’s England U20 squad to contest the World Rugby U20 Championship in Manchester.

“This group will only play together for this tournament. It will be a proud moment when they pull on the white jersey and run out in front of family and friends in a home World Cup,” said Haag.

“The format of the tournament means you can’t expect anyone to play 80 minutes of every single game,” he said. “We’ve picked a strong squad and we’re really looking forward to seeing all these guys in action. Players will, of course, be picked on form but we will be managing workload and how we ensure mental and physical recovery between games.”

Scotland squad for 2016 Summer Tour of Japan

Prop

Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby)

Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby)

Moray Low (Exeter Chiefs)

Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh Rugby)

Hooker

Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby)

Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby)

Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors)

Second row

Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors)

Richie Gray (Castres)

Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors)

Back row

John Barclay (Scarlets)

David Denton (Bath Rugby)

John Hardie (Edinburgh Rugby)

Josh Strauss (Glasgow Warriors)

Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors)

Scrum-half

Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN (Gloucester)

Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors)

Fly-half

Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors)

Ruaridh Jackson (Wasps)

Centre

Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors)

Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors)

Duncan Taylor (Saracens)

Wing

Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby)

Sean Maitland (London Irish)

Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors)

Tim Visser (Harleqiuns)

Full-back

Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors)

2016 Summer Tour (live on BBC)

Saturday 18 June: Japan v Scotland, Toyota Stadium, Toyota City (kick-off 7.20pm local)

Saturday 25 June: Japan v Scotland, Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo (kick-off 7.20pm local)

England squad for World Rugby U20 Championship

Sam Aspland-Robinson (Harlequins)

Darren Atkins (Bath Rugby)

Josh Bainbridge (Yorkshire Carnegie)

Lewis Boyce (Yorkshire Carnegie)

Theo Brophy-Clews (London Irish)

Callum Chick (Newcastle Falcons)

Will Evans (Leicester Tigers)

Matt Gallagher (Saracens)

Max Green (Yorkshire Carnegie)

Billy Keast (Exeter Chiefs)

Andrew Kitchener (Worcester Warriors)

Max Malins (Saracens)

Harry Mallinder (Northampton Saints)

Joe Marchant (Harlequins)

Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby)

George Nott (Sale Sharks)

George Perkins (Saracens)

Harry Randall (Gloucester Rugby)

Jack Singleton (Worcester Warriors)

Stan South (Harlequins)

Will Stuart (Wasps)

Huw Taylor (Worcester Warriors)

Ollie Thorley (Gloucester Rugby)

Billy Walker (Saracens)

Jack Walker (Yorkshire Carnegie)

Tom West (Wasps)

Johnny Williams (London Irish)

Jack Willis (Wasps)

England Pool B fixtures

England v Italy (Tuesday 7 June) KO 19:45, Manchester City Academy Stadium

England v Scotland (Saturday 11 June) KO 18:00, Manchester City Academy Stadium

England v Australia (Wednesday 15 June) KO 19:45 AJ Bell Stadium

Semi-finals and knock-out matches (Monday 20 June) Details TBC

Final and knock-out games (Saturday 25 June) Details TBC

Denton, Atkins and Mercer in international action in June

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