Graham has confidence of youth as final push for selection looms

Darcy Graham may still have the schoolboy looks but the Scotland wing is no longer a rookie on the international scene.

The pint-sized Edinburgh back burst onto the Test stage late last year before capping off his first start for Gregor Townsend’s team with a try against Wales during March’s Six Nations clash.

But the 22-year-old really came of age with a brace against the English as Scotland fought back to claim a 38-38 draw having been 24 points down at half-time.

It was that showing at Twickenham that convinced the Hawick flier that he was now a man among men.

Graham – who will collect his sixth cap when he starts against Georgia in today’s World Cup warm-up clash in Tbilisi – said: “I definitely feel settled into the international scene now. I’m not the young boy just fresh into the squad any more. I feel like I’m a proper international player now, especially after that England game.

“When I look back to that day at Twickenham, what I took from it was huge in terms of my learnings. I took a lot of confidence too and that is going to be so important at the World Cup. ”

Today’s clash will be the Scotland hopeful’s final audition for a spot in the travelling party heading to the Far East. Townsend will unveil his 31-man squad at Linlithgow Palace and the tension is beginning to rack up.

Graham is up against tough competition, with Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland time-served members of the squad and Blair Kinghorn flexible enough to cover all three slots across the back three.

France, in their last World Cup warm-up match, beat Italy 47-19 in Paris last night.