The shape of Scotland’s post-World Cup future has started to emerge with four players being added to the 40 who took part in preparations for the tournament in France as Frank Hadden named his first training squad in the lead-up to the RBS Six Nations Championship.

Remarkably, not a single player has retired from the Scotland party, giving the coach a running start as he gets the side ready to take on the rest of Europe, in marked contrast to four years ago when Matt Williams found himself losing almost half a team, some retiring voluntarily but others pushed out by the new coach.

Not that the squad coming to Murrayfield on December 17 is totally without problems. Sean Lamont is invited only to take part in the World Cup debriefing sessions after tearing knee tendons that will keep him out of action for the rest of season, and Marcus Di Rollo has a long-standing groin injury.

However, fears that Chris Cusiter might also be out of action have been eased with Perpignan, his club, saying he should be back next week from a bruised hip picked up early in their first win of the season last weekend.

Among the additions to the party, Phil Godman and Johnnie Beattie are both capped players who had fallen out of favour when the World Cup training group was selected in June, while Ross Rennie and Moray Low are both uncapped.

Yesterday’s selection ends a dismal period for Godman, who not only missed out on the most important competition of the season but then found himself dropped by his club, Edinburgh, with David Blair, younger brother of Mike, the World Cup scrum half, preferred during late October and most of November. Godman regained his starting place last week and helped to steer the club to their first away win for 13 months.

“It’s good to be involved,” he said yesterday. “Obviously, missing out on the World Cup was disappointing but that’s been and gone and now it’s about looking forward and concentrating on playing well for Edinburgh.”

He is joined by Rennie, his Edinburgh clubmate, who is reaping the reward for having been consistently outstanding all season after coming through the age-group and sevens development system. “I’m lucky enough to have had a run of games for Edinburgh after a really good preseason so I’m feeling quite fresh,” was Rennie’s comment.

The Glasgow contingent is also boosted by the return of Beattie. Like Godman, his form dipped after missing out on World Cup training, but he has been back to his best in recent weeks. “For me and the rest of the boys just now it’s about doing the day in, day out graft for the club but it’s great news to have been included in the squad,” he said.

His inclusion will present Hadden — who is expecting to be confirmed as coach before the session in 11 days — with a selection problem. Beattie will be battling with John Barclay, Glasgow’s stand-out performer, as the two specialist opensides try to break into a back row where Allister Hogg and Simon Taylor are the established stars. Hogg has been playing openside, but is not a specialist and prefers No 8.

With Jason White, the captain, certain to be the third back-row man, getting either Rennie or Barclay into the side would mean dropping either Hogg or Taylor, a gamble but probably worth it, as Rennie proved during his club’s win at Ravenhill last week by stealing the ball at crucial times as his side withstood a second-half onslaught from the Irish province.

Low is the final addition, again a reward for consistency for the young tighthead who has emerged as one of Glasgow’s most important attacking weapons this season, while more than holding his own in the scrum. His emergence has allowed the club to shrug off the loss of Euan Murray to Northampton.

The fact that the squad has so much in common with the World Cup party does not mean that things are static. Players such as Nick De Luca, who missed out on the trip to France, have moved up the pecking order while some of those who moved to France and England have struggled to establish themselves at their new clubs and have found themselves on the bench more often than they can be comfortable with as they try to keep their international places.

Training squad

Backs: M Blair (Edinburgh), C Cusiter (Perpignan), S Danielli (Ulster), N De Luca (Edinburgh), R Dewey (Ulster), M Di Rollo (Toulouse), T Evans (Glasgow), P Godman (Edinburgh), A Henderson (Glasgow), R Lamont (Sale Sharks), S Lamont (Northampton), R Lawson (Gloucester), C MacRae (Edinburgh), G Morrison (Glasgow), D Parks (Glasgow), C Paterson (Gloucester), G Ross (Saracens), H Southwell (Edinburgh), N Walker (Ospreys), S Webster (Edinburgh). Forwards: J Barclay (Glasgow), J Beattie (Glasgow), K Brown (Glasgow), D Callam (Edinburgh), A Dickinson (Gloucester), R Ford (Edinburgh), D Hall (Glasgow), J Hamilton (Leicester), N Hines (Perpignan), A Hogg (Edinburgh), A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), A Kellock (Glasgow), G Kerr (Edinburgh), S Lawson (Sale Sharks), M Low (Glasgow), S MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), S Murray (Montauban), E Murray (Northampton), R Rennie (Edinburgh), C Smith (Edinburgh), A Strokosch (Gloucester), S Taylor (Stade Français), F Thomson (Glasgow), J White (Sale Sharks).