Stand-in Scotland captain Stuart McInally has said leading out his country after a whirlwind twelve months will form the pinnacle of his rugby career.

The Edinburgh forward will skipper Gregor Townsnd's Scots during their summer tour of Canada, the United States and Argentina in the absence of regular captain John Barclay.

McInally brushed off the disappointment of failing to make the squad which toured Asia-Pacific a year ago by becoming one of Scottish rugby's star performers over the last 12 months.

His displays have been rewarded by Townsend with the honour of leading out the Scots this summer.

He said: "It's definitely the pinnacle of my career.

"I didn't think it would ever happen but the way this season has gone, and the players who are not going on tour, created an opportunity for me to do it. I'm really excited about the challenge.

"It's just been a whirlwind year in terms of not playing at all for Scotland last year to playing as much as I have this year. It's been great, a big honour."

Back in 2013, McInally made the move from flanker to hooker in a bid to revive his fortunes after toiling in the back-row.

McInnally said he had doubts about whether the positional switch was a wise one, but is relieved to have seen the move bear fruit.

He added: "It feels so long ago that I was a back-rower. Of course I had doubts about moving. I'd be lying if I said I was confident the whole time.There were definitely periods where I wondered if I'd made the right decision.

"But I feel that I'm firmly a hooker now, which is great, especially as for the first few years it wasn't that. I was very much a convert and everyone gave me that tag.

"Now I just feel I'm a hooker and that just makes the tough times learning how to scrum worth it. I remember getting my face planted down in the mud back at Edinburgh and getting dragged backwards. I was thinking, 'What the hell have I done here?'

"But the way this year has gone and looking ahead to the tour has made it all worthwhile."

McInally's stint as captain could be extended after Barclay suffered an Achilles tendon rupture on Scarlets duty.

He doesn't expect major changes to take place under his watch, though.

He continued: "I'm not going to change too much with being captain. I probably made that mistake in the past. You overthink things and it affects your performance.

"The best captains I've been under were always the guys who played best. I never really remember what people say.

"I'm gutted for John. It's horrible what's happened to him. I had a good chat with him before I came here. I want to make sure there is some continuity to what he was doing. It's not nice what has happened to him but I'm sure he'll come back stronger."

Meanwhile, lock Richie Gray will miss Americas tour after the British & Irish Lion was sidelined with a hip injury.