Kyle’s a Beaut: Scotland winger at the peak of his powers

Having not debuted for Scotland until the relatively ripe age of 26, he explained a bit about his character and what it’s taken to arrive as a key facet in his country’s rugby make-up: “My journey has always been so different in rugby, you know. I didn’t sign with a club straight away, I went to uni and did that route and then I picked up a pro contract at the back end of that. I think that gave me confidence anyway, because there’s a sense of isolation, so by the time I got out there I was more comfortable with change and I had a lot of calmness to deal with challenges.

“Because the journey took longer, it comes back to gratitude. I think that rooted me and that allowed me to stay present.”

Tongan tally: Kyle grabbed four tries on his first start for Scotland, against Tonga in 2021

Born in South Africa to Glaswegian mum Gillian and dad Rory, who famously used to provide security detail for Nelson Mandela, Kyle has forged a career as a leader on the pitch and away from it. On that, and his strong understanding with national skipper Sione Tuipulotu, the Warriors captain explained: “On the leadership thing, I think it definitely it starts with my parents. My mum’s a head teacher and my dad’s run his own company for 26 years, so I got it from them. And off the back of that, I’ve always played better with more responsibility and fed off other people. So being a part of the leadership group, I feed off the energy boys bring to that, and it’s always made my game better.

“I’m lucky, the relationship me and Sione have with each other, I think again in terms of guys I feed off, we do that off each other.”

You can read the interview in full in tomorrow’s Scotland v Australia matchday programme, available online here . Around 65,000 fans are already coming to the game, but there are still some tickets available here.