Expatriate Borderer Rufus McLean called up by USA’s national rugby team

It’s three years next month since the 25-year-old – born in Massachusetts in the US but brought up in the Borders, joining his then home-town’s Melrose Wasps as a youngster – last played for Scotland, in a 34-31 summer test loss away to Argentina in Santiago del Estero, so he’s now just weeks away from being eligible under World Rugby rules to switch international allegiance.

Former Glasgow Warriors winger McLean moved to the US after being issued with a ten-year non-harassment order and 120-hour unpaid work order for domestic abuse in March 2023, signing up with Colorado’s American Raptors in January 2024 and moving on to Houston SaberCats earlier this year.

America’s Eagles have three games lined up for next month against visiting European opposition – versus Belgium on Sunday, July 6, and Spain on July 13, both Sundays here and both in North Carolina, and England on Saturday, July 19, in Washington, DC – with McLean being eligible for selection for the last of those three fixtures and also for a visit to Murrayfield on Saturday, November 1.

It was at Murrayfield that McLean, a former pupil of Edinburgh’s Merchiston Castle School, first played for Scotland in October 2021, scoring two tries during a 60-14 win against Tonga.

He also featured in a 30-15 defeat at home to South Africa the month after.