This time last year Finn Murphy had just sampled rugby league for the first time but the Heriot's FP has made such an impact in his short involvement that he will captain his country when Scotland take part in next week's Student Four Nations tournament in Ireland.

The 18-year-old admits that being given the honour was not something he could have anticipated but had no qualms about accepting it.

"I was quite shocked to be honest but I've got a bit of experience captaining teams and it's something I really enjoy. The surprise was just that I'm so new to league," he said.

All the moreso since, with rugby league being a summer sport, he has had relatively little chance to play the 13-man version of the game since, after taking part in open trials last year, being selected for the Scotland team that contested last year's Commonwealth Under-19 nines tournament in Cumbernauld.

"I've been playing a lot of union, including going to the Melrose sevens with Dundee HSFP where it was great to get the chance to play against Glasgow Warriors," he said.

"I played union for the university too and we've been promoted to the British League which will mean a higher standard of rugby next season."

His approach to mixing the two codes is pragmatic because he knows the level of union available in Scotland is much higher so can help him improve his game, particularly now he has had enough time in league to move from the wing, where he was introduced last year, to the play-making positions, but the experience of this product of one of the bastions of union is the latest evidence that league may be a better option for many Scots.

"I'm set to be playing half-back during the Four Nations having played a bit there since last year and I think that complements playing nine and 10, which are my positions at Union, really well," he said.

"It's been quite a smooth transition but that's partly because I've found league suits me better anyway. I enjoy the fact that it's a faster game, more free-flowing rather than being slowed down all the time with rucks and scrums and stoppages .

"I'm quite fast and there's more space on the pitch so I enjoy that too. When you watch union you can spend 10 minutes of the game with it being taken up by scrums."

That message is getting around and he will consequently be accompanied by former school-mate Finlay Hutchison in Dublin next week.

"He's one of my good mates from schooldays and went to Newcastle University. He tried out both league and union there and he just started enjoying league more too," said Murphy.

"He feels the same way as i do about it. I had told him a few good things about league and how much I was liking it, but I think it was a really a case of finding it for himself because he had the opportunity to try both."

Since the development of the sport in Scotland is very much a work in progress they remain rank outsiders for the tournament, but the skipper is upbeat in his view of both the short and longer term.

"The coaches reckon we're in a better place this year than last year when they lost all three games," said Murphy.

"England and Wales in particular are always going to be tough to beat, but the boys look pretty sharp and we believe we can have a good crack, while it's a very young squad so we're hoping we can keep it together for a few years and build on the work we're doing this season."