Under the knife.

Lock Richie Gray was left out of Gregor Townsend’s Scotland training squad for the November internationals as he is set to go under the knife and get an operation on his back.

The same back problem ruled him out of Scotland’s June international tour to Singapore, Fiji and Australia.

According to a source close to his club Toulouse, he needs surgery to repair the niggling back problem and is set to miss at least two to three months.