Murray surprised by cap record

Scotland lock doesn't count his caps

Scott Murray claims he never realised he was so close to equalling Gordon Bulloch's record as Scotland's most-capped forward.

The Edinburgh lock will win his 75th cap in the Six Nations Championship match against Italy in Rome on Saturday.
 
Murray was sent off against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in the second match for lashing out at Welsh lock Ian Gough and was suspended for three weeks but returned against Ireland in Dublin last weekend.
 
"To be honest, I thought I was on 73 caps! That's what it said in one of the programmes but it's obviously a great feeling.
 
"To get five caps for your country is brilliant and so I'm glad I'm about to get my 75th - and it would have been 76 if I hadn't been sent off!
 
"I never thought about getting so many caps when I started off playing rugby, I was just happy to get my first one.
 
"My first three caps were happy occasions but the games didn't go my way and I thought, 'that's me, I'm done'.
 
"But I've been very lucky with the teams I've been at and the people who have been coaching me.
 
"I've had a lot of clever people around me to help me along the way."
 
Murray, however, insists he is not aiming for the 100-cap mark.
 
"I don't think about stuff like that, playing in the next match is what I think about, like most of the guys.
 
"Obviously 50 is a massive occasion but after that I would imagine you are struggling to get to 100.
 
"I think I've got another couple of years left in me, it just depends if the young players put me out the team first. But I haven't set myself any targets.''
 
Murray is hoping to finish an unusual Six Nations tournament with a win in Rome.
 
"It's been quite a tough competition for me personally because of the stuff that's gone on," he said.
 
"The first game against France was brilliant then I had just 20 minutes against Wales.
 
"I had never experienced watching us play England from the stand and that was fantastic.
 
"The way we've been defending and playing, we've had the chance to win every game and that has not always been the case for Scotland.
 
"We want to go to Italy and perform the way we know we can and hopefully if we do that we'll win the game, but it will be a tough day at the office.
 
"As far as I'm concerned, Italy have been the most consistent performers in the whole tournament.
 
"They've played well in every game and they've been unlucky in some ways."