WHEN George Graham was unveiled as part of the hapless Matt Williams' Scotland coaching team at Stirling University's management centre a decade ago, I could not resist asking this product of the town's notorious Raploch housing estate whether he had been on the campus previously.

"Last time I was here, Kev, it was to steal boats off the loch," he replied, eyes twinkling malevolently. In euphemistic terms, Graham has had his moments down the years and, having been educated at St Modan's High School, which also produced Billy Bremner, he is physically and temperamentally well suited to playing rugby.

Yet, neither posh nor a borderer, it was his good luck that, for a brief moment in time at least, that institution employed a teacher who knew there was more to sporting life than football.

His background meant, however, that with the path to international glory effectively blocked off by one David Sole in those shamateur days, Graham had little choice, after completing his time in the army, but to switch codes to rugby league in order to maximise his earning power. He duly joined Carlisle Border Raiders.

Had he held on a little longer, the opportunities that came only with playing for Scotland in those days would almost certainly have come his way, not least as demonstrated by the odd turn of events in which his District Championship-winning team-mate Alan Watt was capped in his position in the front-row, but he was always philosophical.

"There was no coming back," said Graham. "I was an outcast and it did hurt me when Watty got capped at prop. I've got nothing against him in any way, but he was in the second row behind me when we played for Glasgow. You can spend your whole life worrying about things like that, though. How many caps might I have ended up with if I did come back to rugby union - what if Dave Hilton had discovered he wasn't qualified to play for Scotland - a bit sooner? But there's no point.

"It takes you wherever it takes you and I've no regrets."

Nor should he, given that he would win 25 Scotland caps after rugby union went open in 1995, but there are some bitter memories. "Any time you put on a jersey that represents your home country is a special day so, in rugby league, being picked for Scotland against the North-East of England and being selected to play in the World Nines in Fiji were the biggest of all," he recalls.

"There was a bit of controversy surrounding the first of those games, though. It was on a Sunday and a Scottish Rugby Union official called me at 10 o'clock on the Saturday night. It was my first season in rugby league and he told me he'd been keeping an eye on how I was doing and that he saw I'd been doing well. Then he asked if I would be playing in the match for Scotland against the North-East of England the next day.

"I told him I was and he then told me that was a shame because, if I did, all the amateur boys who were representing Scotland would be banned [from playing rugby union]. He had timed it to make sure there could be no publicity about the call before the match and knowing it could ruin the whole game for everyone.

"I said I had better not play but, the following day, I spoke to all of the players ahead of the match and told them that if any of them had any reservations I would not play.

"Not one did. I played and there was never anything done about it. No-one was banned, but there was no need for it. What was the threat?"

The tale is a sad reflection of small-minded attitudes within rugby union back then, but how times have changed.

Graham is now head coach at Gala's rugby union club which, tomorrow night (7.30pm), hosts a match that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the first full Scotland rugby league international as France visit in what is effectively a European Championship decider.

"They would never have allowed a rugby league team to play at a rugby union ground back then," he observes.

He readily acknowledges that there is considerable irony in the concerns he has registered over his attempts to recruit players for Gala being undermined by unrealistic pay demands within the rugby union community, while the rugby league players representing Scotland tonight will not be paid for their efforts.

The game, then, will offer a reminder of what it means to play for the jersey, and Graham is delighted that his adopted club is embracing the occasion.

He still has sufficient love for the 13-a-side code that - along with a group of pals resplendent in Trilbies, over-sized shades and screamingly bad-taste shirts - he made his annual pilgrimage to be among the party goers at the Etihad in May for the sport's "Magic Weekend".

"It's great that it's moved on, with both codes now playing side  by side, and you've even got rugby league coaches in major roles with professional rugby union teams," Graham points out.

"I think there'll be a few there partly because Scotland did so well in the World Cup in Cumbria last year. A decent number went from the Borders to watch them and there's a fair bit of interest in rugby league here."

Which, of course, there always was. But, as with Graham's more recent visits to Stirling University, they no longer need to be furtive about it in any way.