Dark Blue another try Scotland may not be ready to go whole Hogg

they feel about Scotland.

“He’s done that with Gary and he’s happy about that.”

Jamie Ritchie – unquestionably a rival for a back row slot after excellent performances in the first two games of the Autumn Tests – expects Graham to get the traditional welcome.

“The one thing that happens with anyone who comes into the squad, whether it be academy guys coming in to train or new guys being selected, they are welcomed with a round of applause,” said the 22-year-old.

“That would be the only thing that happens. Everyone shakes hands and we get to work.”

As far as he was concerned, Graham would only be in the squad for a good reason.

“He deserves to be here Stuart Hogg seems more desperate to play than the Scottish management is to play him in this weekend’s second Autumn test against Fiji, but the star full-backs getting every chance.

Hogg was the shock name in six called into the Scotland squad after the defeat to Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, given his ankle injury sustained playing against Munster in September was operated on seven weeks ago. The expected recovery period was 10-12 weeks.

The double Lion was a water carrier for Glasgow in Swansea on Friday night and was out slinging passes to colleagues in the warmup at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, so his general mobility is clearly not an issue.

But assistant coach Danny Wilson yesterday indicated that while if he’s selected,” he added. “This will be the first time I’ve met Gary properly. I think I played against him when he was playing for Gala and I was playing for Heriot’s when I’d just Hogg had made “really good progress”, he still had not had a full contact session until the team gathered again at Oriam yesterday.

“There’s still a few boxes to tick, some decision to be made on that,” said Wilson.

With Scotland moving back their team announcement from Wednesday to Thursday, it could be inferred they’re giving Hogg an extra day to prove himself, but it would seem unduly risky to place Scotland’s most prized asset straight into a fully-fledged test match after nearly two months on the sidelines.

“I don’t think there’s a massive concern about that,” said Wilson, a new face to the coaching team with responsibility for the forwards this year. “Stuart’s worked extremely hard in a short space of time. He’s shown me how important it is for him to play for Scotland.” joined Edinburgh. I’ve never really had a conversation with him.

“It will be good to get to know him. I’m sure there will be a few gags about it, but it’ll be just laughs.”

GAME GUY: Gary Graham joined the Scotland squad at Oriam, raising a few eyebrows