“He’s Exeter’s line-out leader, his decision-making is excellent, he runs very good lines and so is an excellent addition to the squad.”

Gray is unlikely to return until during the 2019 Six Nations after his struggle with hip injuries forced him to undergo surgery, but Townsend stated that Skinner would have been selected even if the 66-cap Toulouse man was fit.

Skinner is one of three uncapped players, along with Glasgow centre Sam Johnson and Scarlets No.8 Blade Thomson, who have been called up ahead of next month's clash with Wales in Cardiff and three Murrayfield Tests against Fiji, South Africa and Argentina.

Commenting on the call-up for Skinner, Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter has urged the former University of Exeter student to make the most of his opportunity.

"If you're going to go, make it a good career, make sure you get plenty out of it," said Baxter. "Make sure you are learning from it and it's something that becomes part of your playing programme for a while.

"That's my big determination with these guys, and it's the same with our England players. We don't want our England players to be low caps, if they are going to play for England we want them to be the guys that are driving the whole makeup of the team, because that's ultimately how they become the best players they can for us."

A product of the club's highly successful Academy set-up, Skinner has come through the ranks in recent years to feature 43 times for the Chiefs, including starting in last season's Premiership Rugby final against Saracens at Twickenham.