Uncapped hooker on his debt to Franco Smith, settling into Scotland camp and areas for growth

Franco Smith’s side supply 19 of the 36 selected by Gregor Townsend for the Southern Hemisphere series of the new international competition, and included in that number are two uncapped players, hookers Gregor Hiddleston and Seb Stephen.

Both have earned call-ups on the back of a campaign which saw the Warriors finish top of the United Rugby Championship in the regular season only to fall short in the play-off semi-finals where they lost 22-21 to the Bulls at Murrayfield.

Hiddleston in particular has impressed, emerging as Smith’s first-choice hooker and starting in all Glasgow’s European Champions Cup games which included the stunning comeback win over Toulouse.

Elusive first cap

His form earned him a call-up from Townsend for the Six Nations but he never made a match-day 23. That elusive first cap is now within touching distance for the 24-year-old from Dumfries.

Scotland open their inaugural Nations Championship bid against Argentina in Cordoba on July 4, then travel to Pretoria to play South Africa on July 11 before returning to Murrayfield to face Fiji on July 18. The squad is currently in Madrid preparing for the three matches and Hiddleston is settling in nicely.

“I don't think there are many better places to come than here in Spain,” he said. “Great facilities and it's massive for me being in this environment. I love being with the boys, I love working with the coaches.

“I must say, every coach is great. All the communications are spot on. And just to be able to work with these coaches, it's massive for me as a younger player, first time coming in and just picking up little nuggets here and there.”

The URC semi-final defeat still hurts but Hiddleston is able to reflect on some of the more positive aspects of Glasgow's season and is in no doubt that working under Smith and his coaching team helped propel him into the national squad.

“Obviously it was a disappointing end to the season,” he said. “I think that was an opportunity missed there at Murrayfield. But we had a great season really when you think about it.

“Glasgow had a good European run, finished top of the table in the URC. So it's just fine-tuning little things.

“Working with Franco and Nigel [Carolan, attack coach] since I first went into Glasgow, they put you in good stead to go with the Scotland team.

Plenty to work on

“I can't speak highly enough of Franco. The opportunities he's given me, and hopefully I can just repay him every time I go out on the field.”

Despite his progress, Hiddleston feels there is still plenty of room for improvement in his game.

“I think it needs to develop all around,” he said. “There's so much in a hooker's role - set-piece and throwing-in are massive - and then stuff around the park as well. You're always trying to get better and I'm still trying to get better. So it's just important that you don't take your foot off the gas and you try and soak up as much as you can, especially in these environments, and just learn as much as you can pretty much and hopefully keep developing.”