The Sharks hooker waited almost 1,000 days for his second cap, but can now stake a claim to a Scottish starting jersey.
It's semi-finals Sunday at the World Rugby U20 Championship and following last Tuesday’s weather-affected schedule, the hope will be that all six matches will be played to an 80-minute conclusion unlike on match day three when there were just four and a half matches completed due to the heavy rain making pitches unplayable.
Three matches are scheduled for Athlone: Ireland-Australia (2pm local time), France-Wales (4:30pm) and South Africa-England (7pm). Over in Stellenbosch, it’s Argentina-Fiji (2pm), Georgia-Italy (4:30pm) and New Zealand-Spain (7pm).
Three matches are scheduled for Stellenbosch: Ireland vs Georgia (kick-off 2pm local), France vs New Zealand (4:30pm) and South Africa vs Argentina (7pm). Over in Athlone, Wales vs Spain is the opening match (2pm) followed by England vs Fiji (4:30pm) and Australia vs Italy (7pm).
The Spanish have the honour of opening the pool the DHL Stadium this Saturday, taking on a French team that didn’t fire on all cylinders in a Six Nations campaign that only merited third place.
With the August 28 deadline now passed for the final submission by all 20 teams of their 33-strong squads travelling to France, the names of the 660 players who will be involved at Rugby World Cup 2023 have been confirmed.
The Crusaders, Hurricanes, Jaguares and Brumbies have fought tooth and nail to find themselves only two matches away from being crowned Super Rugby champions. How do the semi-finalists stack up?
Super Rugby has been somewhat underwhelming to date – which is why it’s so exciting to finally be in the knockout rounds. The cream has risen to the crop and we're now set for some fascinating clashes between Super Rugby's top sides.