'One of the toughest guys I've ever met': Pete Horne on his Scotland A squad

Pete Horne is relishing the prospect of unleashing one hooker who “wants to be the best in the world” and another with “next-level physicality” when Scotland A tackle Chile in Edinburgh on Saturday.

The former Glasgow and Scotland centre is having one of the busiest-ever weeks of his coaching career, combining his duties as attack coach for the senior side before they tackle Australia in their final autumn Test with heading up the A team’s preparations.

He has named a starting side featuring 12 players with some Test experience - though only prop Jamie Bhatti is into double figures for caps - and another on the bench in Edinburgh fly-half Ben Healy.

But there is no disguising his excitement at some of the newer faces who will be involved at a higher level for the first time at the Hive Stadium.

One is 22-year-old Glasgow hooker Gregor Hiddleston, who has only started five games – among 14 outings overall - for Warriors since his debut against Exeter in the European Champions Cup in January this year.

But the Dumfries-born front-rower launched his season with 27 tackles in a 20-minute cameo against Ulster and has since rotated hooking duties with Johnny Matthews, starting Glasgow’s recent URC match against a Springboks-laden Sharks in Durban.

“Gregor has been chapping at the door,” Horne said. “He was unlucky to miss out on selection for the summer tour and even with the Six Nations, he was right in the mix to be involved in the main squad. It just shows the kind of depth at hooker we've got now.

“You could quite happily put any of them out on the field and we feel like they could do a good job for us. We're really excited about Gregor and I think [Glasgow head coach] Franco [Smith] rates him really highly.

“He’s a guy with a brilliant attitude, so driven. He genuinely wants to be the best hooker in the world. And he doesn't say that in an over-confident or arrogant way by any stretch. It's just he is desperate to do anything it takes to get better and better, so he is one that will be chomping at the bit. I've got no doubt he'll have a big game this weekend. He will fly into Saturday. It's exciting.”

Primed to replace Hiddleston at some point in proceedings against Chile will be another hooker itching to make an impression in Edinburgh’s Harri Morris.

More than three years after making his debut as a back-rower in a Rainbow Cup match against Ulster back in June 2021, the 22-year-old made a second bow at hooker against Stormers recently after a spell on loan last season at English Championship side Doncaster.

Morris initially thought Horne’s call to inform him of his selection was “just somebody spamming me up” and ignored it until he realised it was genuine and phoned the coach back “in a panic”.

“He was like, ‘What's up? Are you alright?’ Horne reported. “I was like, ‘yeah, yeah, just seeing if you fancy playing for the As this weekend?’. He was like, ‘What?’. It was great.”

Having overcome his initial surprise, Morris has swiftly set about making an impression in training.

“He's a cracking kid, just one of the toughest guys I've ever met,” Horne said. “He's honestly hard as nails. Today we were doing a session and I was like, ‘right, let's just pull the level back a little bit’. A lot of the guys played on Saturday and anyone who runs near him, they just end up getting twatted. He's only got one gear, Harri.

“He's obviously not had too many opportunities at Edinburgh but he was brilliant in a couple of their A games - the physicality he brings is just next-level. He's someone else we see having a Test future and it'll be interesting to see how he steps up this weekend.”

Horne says he has been “really impressed” with Edinburgh centre Mosese Tuipulotu, who will start for the A team after training as part of the Scotland senior squad throughout the Autumn Nations Series.

“’Ses’ has done really well. He was just like all the new guys when they first came in - potentially a little bit quieter than normal, but absolutely brilliant, just desperate to get his head down and crack on with his work. He's obviously got a really good role model in his brother [Scotland captain Sione] who's absolutely killing it at the moment. I think having him there as an ear to bend is good for Ses.

“He's grown, every week he's got better as he gets used to the way that we're playing. There's so much information and detail coming from everyone, on attack, defence, the breakdown, everything just goes up another level. And he's taken to it like a duck to water. Although he's probably potentially disappointed he's not had a crack of the whip yet, that's what these games are brilliant for.”

Saturday will also be an opportunity for jet-heeled Sale winger Arron Reed, who has scored four tries in three Tests so far, to show his talents at full-back, where Horne believes he can thrive in similar fashion to Edinburgh’s South African-born Kiwi Wes Goosen, a specialist wing who has flourished at full-back for the capital side.

“I've been really impressed with Wes, so I pitched it to [Scotland head coach] Gregor [Townsend] with Reedy," Horne explained.

“He will be terrifying running the ball back on counter-attack. And something that people probably don't even realise is he's got a really cultured left foot. He probably doesn't have to use it all that much as Sale kick a lot off nine and he's not really needed. We can use him to exit, he can pop up at second receiver and be looking to put kicks in and it should just give him a great chance to show off more of his skillset. He's excited about the challenge as well.”

Horne’s A team will be training directly against Townsend’s senior squad this week as they prepare to tackle the in-form Wallabies, fresh from their 42-37 win over England at Twickenham and a 52-20 thrashing of Wales.

Could it all turn a bit feisty, with some players taking out their frustration at not being picked for the senior side on positional rivals who have got the nod? Horne seems unconcerned by the prospect.

“It's like that every week, so it's not going to be any different, to be honest,” he added. “When we were preparing for South Africa, the guys that are preparing the team, they're the next man up if there's an injury anyway.

“The only thing is that the guys in the bibs, if you like, the ‘Mavs’ we call them, they'll at least have an opportunity to go and play at the weekend. It's not like they're going to be training all week, knocking their pan out and then they don't get the chance to go and show what they're all about. Whereas these guys can go out and make a brilliant impression on Saturday night.

“Even though we're not going to be the main event this weekend, there's no reason why we can't look to try and steal the show and play really well, get everyone talking about our game and our performance and have people excited about all these young lads.

“It's a great opportunity for somebody who misses out on Test opportunities to show that they're ready. They can become like a Test-match animal and might be able to bring a little extra edge. I can't think of a better way for some of those young fellas to really kick on with their career.”