GRAY AREA

Warriors star still to decide if he’ll tour with Scots

RICHIE GRAY has refused to rule out touring with Scotland in South America next month after a great season with Glasgow Warriors put the giant second row back into international contention.

The 67-times capped star has been a peripheral figure for his country in recent years, citing family commitments when he turned down approaches by head coach Gregor Townsend to play in the 2019 World Cup.

He finally returned from the international wilderness to play two games off the bench in the 2021 Six Nations before being ruled out for the rest of the tournament with concussion.

Gray then underwent ankle surgery last summer and made himself unavailable for the Autumn Tests as he didn’t think he was ready. On his return, a poor run of form at Glasgow meant he wasn’t approached to take part in this year’s Six Nations.

Over the last few months, the 32-year-old has been back to pretty much his best, albeit in a poor Warriors side, and was praised for his leadership qualities by head coach Danny Wilson at the players’ end of season dinner this week.

Convincing the experienced lock forward to tour would be a major boost for Townsend, whose team play an A international against Chile in Santiago as preparation for the three-Test series against Argentina.

Asked if he would accept the call if it was forthcoming, Gray said: ‘I am not quite sure yet. I never ruled myself out. It was more discussions over timing, so there are conversations to be had with the management and we will take it from there.

‘It is not something I have ruled out but something I would need to have a good sit down and talk about.’

His immediate focus is on Glasgow’s United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Leinster in Dublin a week on Saturday.

‘I had a tough first year with Glasgow, joining the club in the middle of Covid,’ said Gray, who is in his second spell with the club after joining from Toulouse.

‘My pre-season was a bit all over the place, trying to get consistency and I picked up a few knocks here and there. I struggled to get a run.

‘This year I had a good pre-season. I worked really well with the boys and the management. I tried to develop leadership around lineout a bit more and add that to my game.

‘It was just about getting a run, getting a bit of game time and getting confidence back.

‘As an athlete who is getting on a little bit, running around at 100 miles an hour is a little bit harder. It is about constantly developing how I can help the team, help the players around me and be the best that I can be. I’m finding new ways to do that.

‘My focus just now, though, is on the Leinster game as this is one of the best Leinster teams I’ve seen in a long time. But it’s knockout rugby and we take on board the fact we’ve beaten them before.’

While Gray is still undecided about joining the Scotland tour, fellow Glasgow Warrior Zander Fagerson is desperate to go to South America.

He was one of eight Scots who were on the Lions tour to South Africa last year and have been offered the summer off to recharge their batteries.

But Fagerson has made himself available for selection when Townsend’s summer tour squad is announced in two weeks’ time.

‘I have not had any conversation about the summer tour yet and it is up to the coaches,’ said the Scotland prop.

‘Going to Argentina, it will be tough opposition in a hostile country. Argentina in Argentina is a different beast and we will be going as strong as possible, so we will see what happens.

‘But I love to play for Scotland anytime of year, so I would love to go.’