Murray spurred on by competition

Scott Murray said he was hungry to compete for his place

Scotland lock Scott Murray has vowed to rise to the challenge of fierce competition for places.

"There is more competition for places than there has been for a long time and that has to be good for Scottish rugby," said the 30-year-old.

"All I am interested in is getting picked for the next international.

"I still have a massive hunger to compete and I'd love to be in the World Cup squad," added the player who has made 76 appearances for Scotland.

Murray was first capped at the age of 21 against Australia in 1997 before making his Six Nations debut two years later.

Frank Hadden knows what he can get from me Scott Murray

Having been dropped for the second of Scotland's two Test matches in South Africa during the summer, Murray knows from experience there are no sacred cows in the national team.

"I think the reason I was dropped was because of the line-outs," he said.

"I didn't think I was performing badly, I thought my defence and my game in general was not that bad at all, but, because the line-out was not going well, they had to do something about it.

"As (national coach) Frank (Hadden) told me at the time, he already knows what he can get from me, but also needs to know what he can get from guys like Al Kellock and Scott MacLeod.

"That is especially important with the World Cup just around the corner, because there is no way anyone in the squad can play all of the games."

Scotland begin preparations for next year in earnest with the visits of Romania, Pacific Islanders and Australia in November.