The announcement of the British and Irish Lions squad for the tour to South Africa prompted the usual bout of navel-gazing in Scotland.

For the fourth successive trip, the country is the most under-represented of the four home nations – and in ever-dwindling numbers.

From five tourists in 1997 and 2001 and four in 2005, the Scotland contingent is now down to a paltry three.

And when you consider one of those – Nathan Hines – was born and raised in Australia, it appears the Lions squad will lack that essential element of Scottishness to make it truly representative of the British Isles.

However, anyone willing to make this assumption has clearly not met Euan Murray.

"I'm a proud Scotsman!" boomed the Northampton prop in his thickest accent when asked if playing for the Lions will mean more to him than representing Scotland.

Vowing to parade his kilt and Saltire at every opportunity, the 28-year-old told PA Sport: "I'll be taking my Scottish pride with me on the Lions tour."

Murray, a qualified vet, is anything but a shrinking violet, on or off the field.

Scotland hooker Ross Ford revealed during the recent RBS 6 Nations that the tighthead routinely gives him an ear-bashing whenever they scrum down together.

And while Murray is disappointed at the lack of Scottish presence in Ian McGeechan's touring party, there were no kid gloves to be seen when he dissected its make-up.

"If you look at the squad that was originally selected, there were 14 Irish players and 13 Welsh," he said.

"The Lions want to go away and win Test matches and they want people who are used to winning; they want players who know what it feels like to win, know what it feels like to grind out wins, and win championships.

"And in the last two seasons, the Irish and the Welsh have won Grand Slams.

"Scotland haven't performed well as a squad in the last few seasons and we're not used to winning the tight games, which is what it will take to win a Test series in South Africa."

Of those Scots who were snubbed, Murray singled out the dynamic Ford and Jason White as those most deserving of inclusion.

In reality, even that duo will not be wholly surprised by their omission, something which could not be said for Murray, whose name has been synonymous with the Lions for the past year.

"I try not to read the papers but people were telling me, 'Everyone's saying you'll be in the Lions squad'," he said.

"Obviously, I was hopeful but I tried not to be overly optimistic, because it's not the general public who select the squad – it's a panel of selectors.

"I thought I had a pretty good chance of going on the tour at least and we'll see what happens with the starting XV for the first Test."

Last autumn saw Murray provide a compelling case for inclusion in that starting XV when he was named man of the match for his awesome scrummaging display in Scotland's 14-10 defeat to South Africa.

He said: "I felt I played quite well in that game. And for some reason they gave me man of the match – I didn't quite understand that!

"We performed well and it gives me confidence to know we can go over there and hopefully do the same."

In theory, the Lions boast enough individual talent to be a match for any of the southern hemisphere giants.

In practice, the challenge of harnessing that talent into a fully functioning team in just a few weeks has, more often than not, proven too great.

But Murray insists it is not mission impossible.

"If we thought that, there wouldn't be any point in going!" he said.

"Ian McGeechan knows what it takes to win a Test tour, to win a Lions tour, and I'm sure with the squad that has been selected and the way that we'll approach the tour under his guidance, it'll be a successful tour."

He added: "Yes, South Africa are the best in the world and they're the biggest, strongest and fastest players that I've played against.

"But they're only men, it's 15 against 15 and all you can do is try to beat your opposite number."

McGeechan was in charge of the last Lions team to pull off a series win, with the 1997 tour of South Africa having since assumed legendary status.

That summer was Murray's first experience of the Lions, and he was so inspired, he would repeatedly watch the now-infamous tour documentary 'Living with Lions'.

"I used to watch that on video when I was 17," said Murray, recalling some of the antics which were immortalised on film.

The prop hopes for similar experiences this summer, but knows the only memory worth having will be that of a series victory.

"I'm sure there will be a bit of hijinks and ballyhoo going on!" he said.

"We need to have time to relax after such a long season, but we're there for a job and the job is to win games, so we'll do whatever we can to win them."