When did you start taking rugby seriously?
When I was going into high school. I had played it in Primary Four and with Howe of Fife rugby club, and my dad had always coached my brother Pete at school. It’s not like he forced me to play – I wanted to, especially growing up watching Pete do so well.

You play fly-half for Hawks and at No 9 for Scotland U20. Is that hard?
Well, I was always a ‘first receiver’ at minis rugby, and then I went on to be a fly-half. Scotland decided to move me to scrum-half. It’s nice to be trusted. Hopefully I’m doing okay!

Your brother is a full Scotland cap, so does he give you any help?
Pete’s always given advice. He’s seen a couple of my Hawks games and we reviewed some of my games at ten.

You had wins with Scotland U20 and fought relegation with Hawks. Was that strange?
Coming from the U20 Six Nations (in 2015), we were on a massive high, but then Hawks had to play Stirling in a relegation battle. It was different but a good experience.

Who do you model your game on?
Nowadays I look at a No 9 like Aaron Smith. He’s not the biggest, but the way he gets about is impressive and he runs the best support lines in the game. When I was a stand-off growing up, the obvious inspiration was Dan Carter. He plays as if he has the ball on a string, he’s mastered everything. And George Ford with England is a great young player.

What do you want to achieve off the field?
I was studying PE at Edinburgh University, but I deferred that for the U20 World Cup and Six Nations. Maybe now I’ll do a part-time course or Open University.

RW Verdict: He’s been training with brother Pete at Glasgow Warriors and, with his fine kicking from the tee, has excelled in a dozen games for Scotland U20. Expect to see him
feature in the Pro12 in the near future.

First published in the September 2015 edition of Rugby World magazine.