INFLUENCE has always been one of Scotland's greatest exports. For a perfect example of how it works just look at Ratu Tagive, the former rugby league wing, who has made his way from Sydney to Glasgow to try his luck in the professional level of the union game.

His arrival is the result of an unlikely sequence of events that owes something to blind luck, something to the Glasgow Warriors brand across the globe and something to Scottish contacts spreading the word in Australia.

“I was playing in the Shute Shield for the Eastern Suburbs [of Sydney], earlier this year and one of my team mates Steven Findlay [the former Glasgow Hawks prop] was at the club," Tagive recalled.

"I made up a highlights reel and he shared it on social media. The club [Glasgow] got wind of it and here we are. It happened really quickly, a bit of a whirlwind.”

That was not really the end of it though. While Findlay could tell him all about the city, he was less use on the technical and emotional side of life inside the Glasgow Warriors training and playing group.

Enter Taqele Naiyaravoro, the giant Australian wing who had crossed Tagive's path before making his own way to Glasgow and who still keeps in touch. “As soon as he got wind of the fact that I was coming across as well, he was nice enough to give me a call from Japan just to give me a heads up on his time here and what to expect," Tagive revealed.

“He was, err … not fond of the weather but he absolutely loved his time here, some of the greatest times he has had playing rugby. It was just the cold he couldn't warm to – excuse the pun.

"He had really nice things to say about the place and said just to enjoy it. He loved the club and the group of guys and he knew I'd enjoy it too. I really appreciate him giving me the call."

All of which clears up the mystery of how the youngster from Sydney ended up in Scotland hoping to make his Glasgow debut on Friday when they play the Ospreys with around 13 players involved in Scotland's Test against Georgia the following day. It does not, however, answer how somebody brought up in rugby league came to be playing union in the first place.

“I got a call-up from Brumbies because I made another highlights reel, a rugby league one," he said. "I was playing locally in Canberra [where he was at university] but there wasn't any love coming my way from the Canberra Raiders.

"The Brumbies got a hold of it, it landed on Stephen Larkham's desk, and I was grateful to get called in. I did the whole Super Rugby season with them and learned my trade. I had only ever played league – that is how I jumped across to the dark side!

“There are a lot of technical differences, things that I had never fathomed watching. Just when and where to follow the structures, how to follow your playmakers and what lines to run. It is so different and its a different playing every week as you face different opposition.

"In rugby league there are a lot of similarities. It's chalk and cheese, it is so different from what I had anticipated. I really wish that I had played rugby [union] sooner. I really enjoy the game, the tactics, of knowing when and where to counterattack, not isolating yourself but taking the opposrtunities to back yourself if you do see a little bit of space."

Which leaves the question of what sort of player can the Glasgow fans expect to see. Well, he comes from a Fijian background and the sporting genes run deep enough that his half brother Peni was good enough to get play running back for an American Football college team in Texas.

"I am pretty big build for a winger and I do have that pace and change of direction – that is my point of difference, size and speed and a change of direction to break through tackles," is his own assessment. "The priority is settling in, finding my feet and learning all the structures, but I'd like to stay as long as I can – much as I hate the cold."