Luke played for Livingston, then Currie, before becoming a professional with Edinburgh Rugby, for whom he became a centurion earlier this year. Becoming an international was a dream realised in 2021 in that Tonga tussle and the 27-year-old looks back with fondness on how far he’s come, and what it means to his family.

“It was massive, I still remember it really clearly but for me, I’d been in and around the Scotland squad before I got the opportunity,” the back row esaid about that inaugural cap.

“The first time I was in camp I think was 2021, so I was coming in and learning the culture, the calls, the training, being 24^th man and waiting for that opportunity. I remember I was hopefully going to get that chance but then I broke my jaw. I was told that I might have been involved and I remember thinking ‘that’s a positive’ but it’s hard to hear that.

“I tried to play it in my head that that first cap wouldn’t have happened then but it compounded that I wanted to be in this team and play a part. Then the Tonga game came about and seeing the team sheet in the meeting beforehand, it was like a flood of emotion but also ‘this is it, don’t pick up a knock in training!’”

“So that was a massive moment after dreaming as a kid starting out at Livingston, going on to play for Currie, then Edinburgh, then into camp thinking ‘I really want to play’, and then that final moment of seeing your name on the team sheet.

“I remember my family, my gran came down, seeing my mum and dad from the bus as we made our way in.”

Capping ceremony: Luke Crosbie (left) getting his first cap from Jamie Ritchie after Scotland played Tonga, October 30, 2021.

Was it difficult to keep emotions in check at that point? Luke added: “You can’t stop the emotion that comes with it but for me it was about channelling that emotion and energy into something that’s going to benefit my performance. So for me, my job is carrying the ball, tackling and being a nuisance at rucks.

“So I’m going to use that emotion of passion for my country and channel it into that; when I get a big collision I’m releasing that emotion through a physical aspect that’s going to help me play better.”

In the aftermath of Luke’s Scotland debut, any notion of getting carried away with the achievement was swiftly cut down, as he explained: “We were sitting in Tony Macaroni’s with my mum and dad and a few of the family. My mum said to the waiter: “He got his first cap for Scotland today!” to the waiter and he was like: “Alright – we need the table back in 30 minutes?”

He’s naturally grounded and points to the fact that rugby wasn’t really an option when he grew up; he had to forge his own way in the game: “The way I came through from West Calder, there was no rugby at school. Instead, they said you should be focussing on getting a job. I understood that but I wanted to give everything to be a pro rugby player.

“I played football, but I was pretty rubbish. I walked past Livingston Rugby Club with my dad and I just saw loads of people running into each other and I said ‘Da, I want to get involved in that’. The main thing for me was to be able to tackle, to run into people and not get in trouble for it!”

Heading along to regional and age grade sessions as the guy who was “driving in in my little Corsa from West Lothian” and competing against players who all know one another and among coaches who already coached rugby at many of the schools helped Luke want to “prove a point” as he put it.

It’s fair to say he’s done just that and, with 11 caps to his name, there’s plenty more the Edinburgh forward wants to achieve in the game. Captaining his country, though, has already been ticked off after he was named as co-captain with Stafford McDowall for Scotland’s summer tour opener against Canada.

In the thick of it: Luke packing down on debut, versus Tonga, 2021

“Captaining your country is something you’ll never forget, to be able to walk out on the front line and leading the boys out. It’s such a long journey to get there, and then you’re leading your team out,” he recalled.

“If you want to do something, you can do it if you’re committed and work hard consistently. And that’s not even rugby, it’s anything where you think the odds are a bit against you. If you have a goal, give it everything.”

With Scottish Gas Murrayfield appearances that bit more special, Luke added a bit about what it means to run out at home: “Home games are massive, those are the ones that I went to when I was younger, so I’ve had that experience of getting to the ground, getting fish and chips with my old man, get to our seats. Now I’m a player, your family and friends can come to see you, it’s an honour and those are the ones you want to play in.

“Every game is important. Whoever is involved in the Portugal game will be going in with a big focus that we need to perform as a team to get the right result. Individually, like any game, you need to play well if you want to be involved in the next game.”

“You always want to play to the best of your ability so you can keep chasing being in the team, holding that jersey down and make it difficult for other people to take that number off your back.”

“So coming from that, with none of my pals playing rugby, to get to that – I’m just a boy who went to West Calder High School, now I’m actually leading my country. So it’s easy and a good thing for me to be able to not get caught up in a bubble.”

Eyes on the prize: Crosbie will earn a 12th Scotland cap this Saturday in The Famous Grouse Nations Series encounter with Portugal at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.