Skinner tipped for big future ahead
By Mark Stevens
17/10/18
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend is predicting a big future ahead for Exeter Chiefs lock Sam Skinner, whom he today named in a 40-man squad for the Autumn Tests.
With nine players ruled out by injury, including locks Richie Gray, Tim Swinson and Lewis Carmichael, Townsend has persuaded Skinner to throw his lot in with Scotland.
Skinner’s father Peter is from Ayr and the lock came through the youth exiles system before being capped by England at Under-20 level.
The 23-year-old has been tracked for the past few years by those North of the Border, but resisted overtures from Townsend to fill holes left by injury victims on the summer tour, apparently because he felt he had not proved himself.
Townsend, whose brother Craig played for the Chiefs during the old County Ground days, said: “He is a man of integrity and wanted to get a good pre-season and start to the season and earn his selection, which is great. And he has. It’s a big bonus for us – he’s a player with a big future ahead of him.
“He’s Exeter’s line-out leader, his decision-making is excellent, he runs very good lines and so is an excellent addition to the squad.”
Gray is unlikely to return until during the 2019 Six Nations after his struggle with hip injuries forced him to undergo surgery, but Townsend stated that Skinner would have been selected even if the 66-cap Toulouse man was fit.
Skinner is one of three uncapped players, along with Glasgow centre Sam Johnson and Scarlets No.8 Blade Thomson, who have been called up ahead of next month's clash with Wales in Cardiff and three Murrayfield Tests against Fiji, South Africa and Argentina.
Commenting on the call-up for Skinner, Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter has urged the former University of Exeter student to make the most of his opportunity.
"If you're going to go, make it a good career, make sure you get plenty out of it," said Baxter. "Make sure you are learning from it and it's something that becomes part of your playing programme for a while.
"That's my big determination with these guys, and it's the same with our England players. We don't want our England players to be low caps, if they are going to play for England we want them to be the guys that are driving the whole makeup of the team, because that's ultimately how they become the best players they can for us."
A product of the club's highly successful Academy set-up, Skinner has come through the ranks in recent years to feature 43 times for the Chiefs, including starting in last season's Premiership Rugby final against Saracens at Twickenham.
"Sam's been aware of an interest from Scotland for a little while, he made us aware of that right from the start so it hasn't come as a surprise," added Baxter. "We're delighted for him. As ever, I'm disappointed that an EQP (English Qualified Player) guy, who's playing Premiership rugby, ends up being capped by another country as we're an English club and we'd like our guys playing for England.
"But ultimately you want your players to be playing at the highest level they can play.
"He's very keen and determined to play for Scotland, they've been very positive with their approach to him, so it's going to be an interesting autumn for him."