New Glasgow Warriors Kiwi Josh McKay quashes talk of Scotland cap

Josh McKay during a Glasgow Warriors training session at Scotstoun Stadium.

“Five generations ago, my grandparents’ grandparents came across from Scotland, so there is a bit of heritage over here if you go up the family tree, but that’s not enough to qualify and I’m not here for that,” said the back-three player, who finally arrived in Glasgow last Thursday, nine months after his recruitment was first announced.

Of course, McKay could still pursue a Scotland cap by going down the residency route, but that now means five years in the country, so he will be closing in on 30 by the time he becomes eligible.

“I’m not really thinking about that at the moment, I’ve only been here five days!” McKay responded, putting an end to that line of enquiry.

Instead, the back-three man says he is focussed on pushing for regular game time with Warriors, having been frustrated by his peripheral role in Super Rugby during the last four years.

“I’m just looking for something new, a bit of a change while I’m young, I don’t want to regret anything in my rugby career,” he explained.

“I did three years with the Highlanders, and then one year with the Crusaders, and for all but one of those years I didn’t really play much footie – mainly due to nearly all the people in front of me being either All Blacks or solidified Super Rugby players.

“I did play a lot of rugby with Canterbury in the NPC [New Zealand’s top domestic competition] which was great, but I want to test myself at a higher level.”

McKay added that while he is keen to get some game-time under his belt as soon as possible, he won’t be involved this weekend when Warriors are away to Benetton.

“I’m pretty green here – the new kid on the block – so I’ll have to get my head down and do a bit of learning first,” he said.