The lock moved to Edinburgh from Exeter Chiefs
Sam Skinner won the Premiership and Champions Cup double at Exeter Chiefs before moving north to Edinburgh in 2022.
The Scotland second-row has become a constant presence in Gregor Townsend’s squads and made his first start of the 2023 Six Nations in the final game against Italy.
Read more: Scotland Six Nations squad
Ten things you should know about Sam Skinner
1. Sam Skinner was born on 31 January 1995 in Exeter, England. He stands at 6ft 5in (1.96m) and weighs 18st 4lbs (116kg)
2. Skinner attended Torquay Boys’ Grammar School before collecting a first from the University of Exeter in Business Economics
3. Skinner initially planned to take a gap year and go travelling after failing to make an academy breakthrough, before a growth spurt encouraged him to give rugby another go after he finished school in 2013
4. Skinner started playing rugby at Topsham RFC aged five before featuring for National League Two South side Taunton Titans, even appearing on the wing before he settled in the forwards and was picked up by Exeter Chiefs.
5. He captained England U20 and also led Exeter University to BUCS Championship glory with victory over Loughborough at Twickenham in 2016.
Blair Kinghorn and Ollie Smith replace Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg 🏴 pic.twitter.com/laPWv3UdnA
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6. Skinner played No 8 coming through and has featured at blindside flanker but predominantly now plays in the second row
7. Skinner qualifies for Scotland through his dad from Ayrshire. Skinner turned down Scotland’s summer tour in 2018 before changing his mind and coming into the squad for the autumn internationals.
8. He won the Player of the Match award on his debut against Fiji in 2018 but missed out on the chance to go to the World Cup in 2019 with a hamstring injury
9. Skinner started the victorious Premiership final against Wasps and came off the bench in the Champions Cup final win over Racing 92 as Exeter secured the double in 2020
10. He agreed to join Edinburgh for the 2022-23 season
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