The inclusion of eight Scots in the British and Irish Lions squad is "thoroughly deserved", says Ali Price.

Hamish Watson, Rory Sutherland and Zander Fagerson are among the forwards in a 37-man party for the summer tour of South Africa.

"We had two brilliant Six Nations away wins and putting your hand up in big games is all you can do," said Price.

"I'm delighted for all the guys. I think it's thoroughly deserved and it will be nice to have some familiar faces to go away with.

"For me this is the pinnacle as a rugby player. When you look at your career and where you want to get to, the Lions is the ultimate."

It is Scotland's highest representation since nine were chosen to play in Australia in 1989. Just two players were in the last initial squad four years ago.

And the Scotland contingent does not stop there, with head coach Gregor Townsend leading the attack, and defence coach Steve Tandy also part of Warren Gatland's staff.

'This tour means everything' - Hogg

It is a third Lions call for Scotland captain Hogg, who was the youngest player on the 2013 tour to Australia, playing in five midweek matches. His 2017 trip to New Zealand was cruelly cut short by a facial injury before the Test series started.

"This tour means everything," said the Exeter full-back. "For the last four years this is all I've wanted.

"I really struggled after the last one, having it snatched away from me took me a while to get over."

Racing 92 fly-half Russell was a late call up in 2017, making one brief midweek appearance.

Chris Harris makes the list of centres, with England's Henry Slade, Wales' Jonathan Davies and Ireland's Garry Ringrose left out. Gloucester's Harris is an outstanding defender and has been an ever-present across the last two Six Nations.

Price provides support for Ireland's Conor Murray, along with Wales' Gareth Davies. The Glasgow number nine has scored four tries in his 42 Scotland outings.

Edinburgh winger Duhan van der Merwe will be returning the country of his birth and has scored 40 points in 10 appearances for Scotland since becoming eligible in 2020.

'A special day for me and may family' - Fagerson

Edinburgh flanker Watson topped the vote for this year's player of the Six Nations, having been instrumental in the away victories against England and France.

Tight-head Zander Fagerson will make his 100th Glasgow appearance against Edinburgh on Friday and the 25-year-old has already amassed 38 international caps.

"I was feeling sick before the announcement," he told BBC Scotland. "I wasn't expecting my name to be called out.

"It's testament to the squad we've got - eight boys on the tour is absolutely awesome. Having Gregor and Steve in there helps but our results in the Six Nations helped as well, especially the two away wins.

"To be able to say 'I'm a Lion' is special. It's a special day for me and my family - all these training sessions my parents took me to, sacrifices they made as well as my wife and kids, especially during this year of the pandemic. Being in a bubble and being away for eight weeks at a time isn't easy, so this one's for my wife and kids."

Edinburgh loosehead Rory Sutherland, who battled back from a career-threatening adductor problem, was an injury doubt just a few weeks ago after he injured his shoulder in the Six Nations finale in Paris.

The Lions squad will meet at a training camp in Jersey prior to a warm-up game against Japan at Murrayfield on 26 June. In South Africa they will play eight matches, including the traditional three Test matches against the current world champions.