Rugby 7s: Namibian-born McGuigan in Sevens squad for rest of the season

The 22-year-old centre previously played club rugby on the Eastern Cape in South Africa with Border Bulldogs. He qualifies for Scotland through his Glasgow-born mother.

As revealed in The Scotsman this month, the player was in Glasgow last month and is in talks with the Warriors about joining them in the summer. McGuigan is one of four changes to the Scotland squad which will travel to Wellington and Las Vegas next week, in the next two legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

McGuigan, Hamish Watson and Sean Kennedy all come into the side with the chance to earn their first World Series and Scotland Sevens caps. The fourth addition to the side is Fraser Harkness, an experienced sevens player who has so far played in seven HSBC World Series Tournaments and scored eight tries.

The players replace Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, who will be in contention for a place in Peter Wright’s under-20 squad to play England on Friday 3 February, Struan Dewar, Kerr Gossman and Ross Miller.

Head coach Graham Shiel said: “Byron has been with us for only a short period of time but he has fitted in really well and brings a different dimension to the game than we already have to offer. He is very good in attack and looks comfortable in defence.”

Sean Kennedy and Hamish Watson are both Scottish Rugby Elite Development Players aligned to Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively. A scrum-half, Kennedy has represented Scotland at under-17, 18 and 20. Flanker Watson accepted a Scotland sevens contract at the beginning of season 2011/12 while a member in Leicester Tigers Academy and has also played Scotland under-20.

Scotland will meet New Zealand, Samoa and Japan in Pool A on Friday 4 February in Wellington.