Hooker George Turner has joined Glasgow Warriors on a season-long loan from Edinburgh Rugby.
There are four hookers currently under contract at the capital club – Ross Ford, Stuart McInally, Neil Cochrane and Turner who will move west aiming for more game time. Late last season he was given a brief run of games as Richard Cockerill asked to see players ahead of taking the reins. He impressed most on that outing but who knows what has occured in pre-season. It could be that Glasgow were the driving force behind the move with the news that Fraser Brown has undergone ankle surgery and will be out for up to four months.
A recipient of the (absent so far this year) Macphail Scholarship in New Zealand, Turner spent three years in the Scottish Rugby Elite Development Programme and three years as a professional with Edinburgh. He started at that breeding ground of rugby podcasters, Stewarts Melville.
The latest of his 14 Edinburgh appearances came in the 29-18 win over Glasgow on the last day of last season, having also spent some time with London Scottish.
Turner was a little surprisingly named in the Scotland squad for the summer tour to Singapore, Australia and New Zealand but saw no game time. He was also involved in the Scotland squad for the 2016 Six Nations.
Turner began pre-season training at Scotstoun this week and will compete with Fraser Brown, Pat MacArthur and James Malcolm for the Number 2 jersey this season. With Brown out and no particularly clear understudy, it’s a distinct possibility he could be the starting hooker for the aWarriors before too long.
Rory Scholes and Viliami Fihaki have also left Edinburgh Rugby this week, which is unusual a couple of blocks into preseason but less so with a new coaching group in place. Whether this is again players jumping or being pushed by the new regime remains to be seen. Edinburgh could still use a signing or two for the squad – maybe they are clearing some space in the budget?