Alex Samuel has paid a glowing tribute to Richie Gray with the iconic Glasgow Warriors lock to depart next month.
The Warriors centurion has accepted a new challenge in his career with Toyota Verblitz in Japan and Gray is expected to play his final game for his first professional club during the upcoming trip to South Africa.
The 35-year-old won the URC with Glasgow last season, amassed 79 Scotland caps and represented the British and Irish Lions since making his debut in 2008.
While Gray has entered the twilight years of his career, Samuel is firmly establishing his reputation and the 21-year-old views his fellow second-row as the perfect role model.
Read more:
“Huge,” Samuel replied when asked about Gray’s influence on his career. “He’s been awesome with me ever since I came. He’s quite a quiet guy, but when you ask him questions he’s so knowledgeable. He’s been to so many places, and everything that he says makes sense.
"He’ll even help you out when maybe something doesn’t go your way in a game - he’ll always give you a little nugget. Yeah, he’s been class.”
"Whether he gets replaced or not, we’ve been building responsibility over the last couple of seasons really anyway, so I mean, it’s an opportunity, but that’s all it is.”
The emergence of Samuel and Glasgow team-mate Williamson has provided Gregor Townsend some food for thought ahead of announcing his Scotland squad for the Autumn Nations Series, which is expected next week.
Samuel has trained with the Scotland squad on several occasions, including the Six Nations in February, and he’d love to earn his first cap in the immediate future.
“I’ve been in a couple of times,” Samuel added. “Last Six Nations I was in, and in my first year in the academy. It’s a good experience - it’s awesome to get in there and see how they do things. It’s really interesting to get a look at the very top level.
"I’d love to go back in. But my focus is here for now, and doing as well as I can - anything that happens there is separate.”
Samuel has jetted out to South Africa for the URC double-header against the Sharks and the Stormers.
The lock is relishing the trip to the Southern Hemisphere and Warriors head coach Franco Smith has been planning for the return to his homeland since the start of the season.
Samuel said: “They’re always good trips. Off the field they’re awesome for the players as well. Yeah, everyone is buzzing to go out, catch a bit of sun and get the job done on the field.
“The weather, the food’s amazing - big cuts of meat. It’s obviously not a holiday, but it’s an awesome place to go and visit. Some boys saw a lot of the wildlife. Yeah, the trips are awesome from a player’s point of view.
“I think they’re getting a couple of Springboks back potentially as well, and we know that’s the hardest trip of the year. Franco has been talking about it since the start of the season - it’s not like we suddenly hit South Africa and then panic. It’s been in his masterplan the whole time, so I think we’re well prepped.”
Read the rules here