'Glad I left door open' - Scotland hooker eyes milestone after ending cap exile

When he set off for Japan George Turner anticipated “a wonderful adventure” and he feels fortunate to have experienced a season with the Kobelco Kobe Steelers.

But the Scotland hooker has unfinished business at home and has returned to resume his international career with the aim of reaching the 50-cap milestone.

Turner, 32, is five short and is available again for the national team after agreeing to join Harlequins for next season. He is part of Gregor Townsend’s squad for the summer tour which will see Scotland play three games, two of them Test matches.

George Turner has return to the Scotland fold and is pictured during a squad training session this week at the Oriam. | SNS Group / SRU

They open with a non-cap encounter against the Māori All Blacks in New Zealand on July 5 and continue with full internationals against Fiji and Samoa on July 12 and 18.

Turner’s last appearance for Scotland came in the final match of the 2024 Six Nations, a 17-13 defeat by Ireland in Dublin. He missed this year’s championship because it clashed with the Japanese season but is delighted to be back in the fold.

“I kind of knew it would be difficult to come back [while in Japan], but we left that door open, and I'm glad I did,” said Turner. “I always had a goal of getting to 50 caps, a few years ago, and hopefully we'll still make that.”

He would be joining some illustrious company, with Scotland hookers of the calibre of Ross Ford, Gordon Bulloch, Fraser Brown and Colin Deans all having reached the half-century. All being well, Turner could hit the 50-cap landmark during the Autumn Nations Series, or the 2026 Six Nations, and the former Glasgow Warriors man admitted it felt a little strange to return to the national set-up as one of the senior statesmen.

“I think I'm the second oldest in the squad now, which was a bit of a shock! But, apart from that, it's been a nice easy integration,” he said.

Grant Gilchrist, at 34, is the only player in the touring party who is older - “the squadfather,” Turner calls him - while the other hookers, Ewan Ashman and Paddy Harrison, are 25 and 22, respectively.

George Turner has not played for Scotland since the 2024 Six Nations. | SNS Group / SRU

Turner brings experience but also ferocious tackling ability and a physical dynamism that will be needed against such robust tour opposition. His time in Japan has added another layer to his game and it was an experience which proved enriching both on and off the field. He helped Kobe Steelers reach the semi-finals of Japan Rugby League One and has no regrets about heading east, even if the move came out of the blue.

“Usual for me, no plans,” he smiles. “I saw it as a really lucky opportunity, I couldn't pass it up. I thought it would probably only be a year, in reality, but it turned out to be good.

“It was completely different. We got there and it was about 40 degrees for the first couple of weeks when we arrived, and that was obviously a nightmare.

“In terms of rugby, it was easy to adapt but obviously there's more to it than that, like trying to find things to do with the kids, and getting to shops while having no idea what was going on, but people helped us out quite quickly. So, yeah, tough at the beginning, but then we got into it and it's really, really cool.”

The rugby part of the move was helped by the fact that the Steelers’ head coach is Dave Rennie, Turner’s old boss at Glasgow, and he was assisted by Mike Blair, the former Edinburgh coach. Later, Dan McFarland, once part of the Scotland set-up, would also join the coaching team, which made communication straightforward enough. Turner said his efforts to learn Japanese never really got off the ground.

“I did Duolingo for a bit, but then I saw some things about it not being great and people don't talk like that, and so I used that as an excuse to give up, so I didn't pick up much,” he said. “It was almost easier to be speaking English actually, given the coaching staff there.

“But I wish I'd picked up more of the language. I should have done a bit more, and Dan McFarland showed me up, because he got there after me. I'm pretty sure he got up early in the morning, did about an hour every day in the morning, so he was doing meetings in Japanese, so it was good from him.”

While it took time to adapt to life in Kobe, Japan's seventh largest city, Turner admits it was also tough to leave.

“The kids got settled in the schools, they were happy there, my wife made some really good friends with the other wives and girlfriends, and we ended up doing quite well over there, so I would have loved to have stayed, but it just wasn't on the cards.”

Teams in Japan can have a maximum of three Category C imports – players capped by other national teams – in their matchday squads and Turner felt the Steelers were looking to strengthen from abroad in other areas.

George Turner returns home last year with a URC winners' medal after helping Glasgow Warriors beat the Bulls in the final in South Africa. | SNS Group

“There's new rules coming in for eligibility, and they probably didn't need a Category C hooker going forward, and probably needed strength elsewhere,” he explained. “The other hookers improved so I came back, and it’s a different challenge.”

Turner's final act in a Glasgow jersey was to help them win the United Rugby Championship final against the Bulls a year ago this week. Given his history with the Scotstoun club, was returning to the Warriors an option?

“I think it would have been cool to go back, but I don't think, just with the players coming through, there's room for me anymore,” he said. “They don't need me there. Glasgow did well this year again, and the hookers went well, so although it would have been nice to go back, this was another opportunity to play some different rugby, experience a new competition, and that's pretty cool.”