ELEVEN months after apparently turning his back on the land of his birth, Gary Graham is in the running to make his Scotland debut against South Africa on Saturday. The Newcastle flanker was only called up today because Blade Thomson is still unavailable, but according to Matt Taylor will be given the same chance as any other squad member.

“Any player in the squad is in contention,” the Scotland assistant coach said. “He’s like anybody else in the squad, so he’ll be in contention.

“We’ve been looking at Gary for a long time, so it was a great opportunity to bring him in. He has been playing well and he spoke to Gregor [Townsend] the other day and we’re happy to have him in.”

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Graham, son of former Scotland prop and current Hawick coach George Graham, was born in Stirling and has represented Scotland at under-20s level. Now 26, he was named by Eddie Jones in an England training squad last December, and although he was not subsequently selected for a Six Nations matchday squad, the remarks he made two months after that initial selection suggested he had thrown in his lot with a team for which he qualifies on residency grounds.

“England want to be No 1 in the world and I’m not sure Scotland will ever be anywhere near,” he told the Mail on Sunday. “I’ve grown up here, so yeah, I feel more English than Scottish.”

There was a perception at the time that those remarks were at least partially delivered tongue in cheek and aimed at winding up his father, who has always been fiercely committed to the Scotland cause. But even if they were meant seriously, all has now apparently been forgiven if not completely forgotten, with Townsend having been convinced that Graham junior was wholehearted in his wish to pull on the dark-blue jersey.

“Listen, Gregor and Gary have been in contact over a long period of time,” Taylor added. “Just recently he contacted Gregor and had a conversation around how he would be keen to be eligible for Scotland if he was picked. That has gone well.

“The key thing is that he feels very Scottish. I was lucky enough to play with his dad and I don’t think you’ll find anybody more Scottish than his father. He has been been brought up a lot supporting Scotland and we’re happy to have him, and he’s decided he’s going to be trying to play for Scotland.”

Aged five when his father signed for Newcastle, Graham went on to play for Carlisle before turning out for Scotland Under-20s in 2012. He signed for Jersey Reds in 2015 and stayed there for two years before joining the Falcons.