A few years ago Gordon McRorie was playing club rugby for Stirling County.
Now he has ambitions of turning out for Canada in the World Cup next year.
The 26-year-old scrum-half has had plenty of reasons to pinch himself of late, now that he has a handful of caps under his belt for his adopted nation. His next appearance could come on Saturday against Romania in Bucharest on the final leg of Canada's European tour, with the side having so far lost to an English Championship XV, won against Namibia 17-13 and lost to Samoa 23-13.
McRorie attended university in Stirling and decided to go travelling after his graduation, finally settling in Calgary in May 2011. "At that stage I wasn't thinking about international rugby," he said. "I got involved with a local club, the Hornets, and the Prairie Wolf Pack in the Canadian Rugby Championship and started enjoying my rugby.
"Scot Graeme Moffat, who I knew from my time back home and who had been involved with Currie and Stewart's Melville, was involved in the coaching set-up locally and he played a big part in getting me thinking about taking the Canada route. With the three-year residency rules I knew that I would be eligible for Canada in mid-2014 and so I just got my head down and worked hard at my rugby in the interim period."
McRorie's performances clearly impressed Rugby Canada enough that he made his full debut against Japan on June 7, in a 34-25 loss in Vancouver. He would face Scotland a week later before earning his third cap later that month when he came off the bench against the USA in Sacramento.
McRorie has since started in each match of Canada's current tour and has his sights set on maintaining his form and being involved in the World Cup in England. "The boys in the squad have been brilliant with me and I have settled in really well," said the scrum-half, whose side are in Pool D. "I love the style of rugby we play and I feel we have a lot of potential."
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