Dougie Fife goes from ball boy to Scotland squad
The 23-year-old winger has excelled this season as Edinburgh have begun to find their feet under a new coaching team, scoring five tries in his last seven matches. The last one was a decisive score against French side Perpignan which helped secure Heineken Cup victory at Murrayfield on Saturday, and virtually nailed on his selection for Scotland’s training squad for the RBS Six Nations Championship.
Fife is one of only two uncapped players in the 36-man group as interim head coach Scott Johnson returns to an experienced line-up. Glasgow flanker Chris Fusaro is the other. With Tim Visser out injured, Fife joins a healthy stable of wing talent in Sean Lamont, Max Evans, Sean Maitland and Tommy Seymour, and he is simply delighted to be involved.
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Hide Ad“It has all kind of sneaked up on me quite quickly,” he said. “I was just focused on Edinburgh and then, all of a sudden, people started talking about it [Scotland selection]. I honestly didn’t even have it in the back of my head. Luckily, I’m peaking at a good time, I suppose.
“I played all the age grades, sevens and then the A team last year when I came off the bench against the Saxons down in Newcastle, but this is my first time with the full squad.
“My first thought when I got the call last night was that we have a big game against Munster this weekend – we still have a chance to qualify in Europe and I need to keep the focus on that. But, of course, it’s something you hope for. I think every rugby player wants to be involved with the national team and I am no different. I’m pretty chuffed.
“I’ve been going to the [Scotland] games since I was really young and I was actually a ball boy at a few games back when I was about 12 or 13.”
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