Kyle reflects on his pathway to the National Team from his roots: “My Mum was born in Milgavie, she was quite young when she moved to South Africa. My Grandad was an engineer that got a job over there but through my Mum’s side growing up we had a strong touch with our Scottish side so it was amazing to come over the Glasgow, and be able to see places where my Mum had lived, where my grandparents had lived and all the stories they’d tell us.”

“I then played for Glasgow and was lucky enough to debut for Scotland in the last game of the Six Nations before Covid hit. It was a cracking day at Murrayfield and my Dad was there, there was a rainbow over Murrayfield and we managed to beat France at home which was amazing.”

“Once I made my debut, I was in and out, caps were quite hard to come by so this year’s Six Nations, to be able to play in all the games, five in a row, was really special. It was a great group of boys, it was a tough but good campaign for us and just to be able to be a part of that, to be in amongst it, be out there with the boys, feel the crowd both home and away was amazing. It’s a great learning experience going into the World Cup.”

The squad kicked off Block 2 of pre-season training earlier this month in St Andrews, as a golf fan, Kyle reacts to being based in the iconic location:

“Starting the camp in St Andrews was awesome, particularly as a golf fan, it’s an amazing place in Scotland, so much history, so much golf energy I suppose. So it was great to get a few days there, different ways for boys to connect. The Old Course Hotel is an amazing hotel so to stay there and watch people play The Old Course and play a little bit of golf ourselves in the evening was really good.”

“We had a few activities in St Andrews, we divided into clans. We took each other on in some long drives, nearest to the pin, some chipping, and then we had some boys putting to decide a champion. Then we had some beach cricket on the West Sands beach in St Andrews which was a great morning combined with a bit of recovery getting everyone in the cold water. It was just a great way to sign everything off, and moments like that off the pitch for boys to be able to connect, relax and have a bit of fun together, they are huge.”

Returning to Edinburgh, the squad took part in the Kit Launch Open Training Session and met supporters in Hive Stadium. Kyle talks about how important the connection with supporters is for the squad:

“The Open Training Session and launching the new kit was awesome. It was our first taste of contact so that added a little bit being in the new threads and having a whole host of new fans there to support us.”

“It was a real intense session, boys were really good and the crowd were really involved. It was amazing to be able to connect with them, see them all afterward, so many of them stayed out and it’s great to connect even when the rain came down so it was a great day to be involved in.”

We’re counting down the days until The Famous Grouse Nations Series begins at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, with the match against Italy up first on Saturday 5 August. Kyle gives an insight into the final week of pre-season:

“Last week of pre-season, boys are quite excited. You get to that stage in preseason where you’re ready for the games to come and we’ve got one more box to tick which is an internal game. Dead honest there are some mixed feelings in the squad but we know that being able to have that hit out, that initial contact will be really good for us and I think boys are excited to get an idea of where we are at and we need to make some gains before we go into test week.”

“Really excited to get back out there, it’s not often you get to play for Scotland at home in the summer so really looking forward to these Tests, having people back in the stands at Scottish Gas Murrayfield cheering us on. It’s going to be amazing, we can’t wait!”

Find more information on sportsbreaks packages for Rugby World Cup 2023 at: bit.ly/SRURWCPackages

Secure your tickets now for Scotland men’s final home games at Scottish Gas Murrayfield in 2023. They face Italy, France and Georgia in The Famous Grouse Nations Series this July and August. FIND TICKETS

Watch episode 1 of Our Journey below: