UNDER-20S

NAIRN WANTS FAST START

WINGER Robbie Nairn believes learning from the likes of Tim Visser and Marland Yarde at Harlequins has made him a more rounded player as he gets set for the Six Nations with Scotland Under-20s.

Last season, the young Scots had some stand-out results with a victory over England in the Six Nations opener and a win against Australia at the World Championships.

Zander Fagerson went on to earn full Scotland caps while Murray McCallum, Scott Cummings, Adam Hastings and Rory Hutchinson all look destined for bigger things.

Only a handful of last year’s vintage are still eligible to play while Sean Lineen has replaced John Dalziel as head coach after the latter moved to London Scottish.

With a number of 18-yearolds in the squad, there will be a lot of responsibility placed on the shoulders of the more experienced players such as Callum Hunter-Hill, Darcy Graham and Nairn.

Nairn, who turns 20 next month, has played 14 times for the Under-20s since the summer of 2015 when he and Blair Kinghorn were called up while still at school.

“Now a member of the Harlequins Academy, he says: “I remember getting a call to tell me I had been called into the Under-20s and I couldn’t believe it. I used that tournament to really get used to the pace and physicality of the game at this level while last year we had a very good team. The Under-20 Six Nations is exciting and for me it is all about this group trying to hit the ground running in the Ireland opener and then take things from there.”

Originally from Edinburgh, Nairn has loved being at Aviva Premiership outfit Harlequins over the last 18 months.

“When I left school in 2015 I was offered the chance to head down to Harlequins and I really believe it was the best place for me to go to continue my progression,” he said. “As a winger, being able to pick up tips from players of the calibre of Tim Visser and Marland Yarde is superb and they are really good at helping me.”

Gary Heatly