Scotland and Glasgow Warriors lock, Jonny Gray, will captain Scotland A next Friday night when his side take on England Saxons at Scotstoun Stadium (kick-off 7.30pm GMT).
sru
The 19-year-old won his first caps last November, for the Scotland national team, against South Africa and Australia at Murrayfield and previously captained Scotland under-20 in last season’s 6 Nations and Junior World Championship.
Scotland A head coach, Shade Munro, said: “Jonny is a mature player and the feedback I received from Sean Lineen [Scotland under-20 head coach] was that he was an excellent and successful captain for Scotland under-20 last year. He is definitely, one of the leaders in this squad and at Glasgow he’s one of our line-out callers. Therefore, he is creating a skill set that is suitable to leading a team.
“The A team is about developing players and captains, so this is an excellent opportunity for him to step up.”
For Gray, it has been the people around him in Scotland under-20 and at Glasgow Warriors that he believes to have helped him to receive this golden opportunity.
He said: “It’s a massive honour to have the chance to captain Scotland A and I’m very grateful to be in the squad. Captaining the under-20s last year was a great experience and has brought my confidence on. I had a group of players that had played in previous years, like Mark Bennett, Adam Ashe and Will Bordill, so they were always very helpful to me and I know it’ll be the same with this group of players. Also, at Glasgow Big Al [Kellock] has been a huge influence and support to me.
“I can’t wait for next week to get into the camp and prepare for our match.”
2014 Scotland A squad:
Forwards – Olly Atkins (Edinburgh Rugby), Fraser Brown, Kevin Bryce (both Glasgow Warriors), Blair Cowan (London Irish), Jonny Gray, Robert Harley (both Glasgow Warriors), Allister Hogg (Newcastle Falcons), Tyrone Holmes, Ed Kalman (both Glasgow Warriors), Kieran Low (London Irish), Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors), Grant Shiells (Newcastle Falcons) and Jon Welsh (Glasgow Warriors).
Backs – Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors), Jack Cuthbert, Dougie Fife (both Edinburgh Rugby), Alex Grove (Worcester Warriors), Grayson Hart (Edinburgh Rugby), Tom Heathcote (Bath Rugby), Byron McGuigan, Henry Pyrgos (both Glasgow Warriors), Greig Tonks (Edinburgh Rugby) and Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors).