CAM REDPATH may have dropped out of the senior Scotland squad with a neck issue, but the family still have a direct interest in this weekend’s Six Nations action, with younger sibling Murray set to wear the No 9 jersey for the under-20s team against Les Bleus at the Dam Health Stadium in Edinburgh on Friday night.

The age-grade side are also looking to bounce back from a disappointing result in Wales last time out, and the younger Redpath says he is confident the team can give a good account of themselves if they manage to cut down their error count.

“Compared to last year, we’ve given England a tough time for 60 minutes in this year’s Six Nations, and Wales scored twice in the last ten minutes due to little things on our part, so that’s where we need to improve,” says the 19-year-old, who is one of over a dozen players in the squad who were involved in Scotland’s 2021 under-20s Six Nations whitewash. 

“We know we can win these games, and we should really win these games – but because of our own little errors and inaccuracies, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot. We’ve got so much potential, you can see it, we’re just not getting that last little bit.”

While his big brother went straight from school into the pro game with Sale Sharks, before moving to Bath in the summer of 2020, Murray is currently in his second year studying marketing and management at Newcastle University. He isn’t involved in the nearby Falcons academy and insists that he has no long term rugby plans at the moment.

“I play for the uni team, we’re one division below the BUCS Super League and fighting to get promoted,” he explained. “We’ve got a good set-up, quite a lot of good lads, and we’ve got a promising team for this year and next.

“I’m just trying to focus on getting my degree, there’s not a lot else in the pipeline. I’m just trying to play my best here with the 20s and see what happens."

Cam – who was born in France and raised in England – found himself caught in a very public tug-of-war between Twickenham and Murrayfield before finally committing before the last Six Nations to the country his father represented 60 times (21 as captain) between 1993 and 2003. Committing to Scotland was a much more straight forward situation for Murray – in fact, it wasn't even a decision.

“I’ve been involved with Scotland since under-16s and in the Exiles programme, so I’ve always been in and around it,” he said. “I’ve never really turned my head towards anything else – I’ve been pretty happy with it all the way through. I’m happy to stay where I am.”