Joseva Nayacavou, the Fijian-born forward, says he was shocked by his late call-up to the Scotland Sevens squad travelling to Australia.
The 28-year-old qualifies for Scotland through residency, having lived here since 2008. He was brought into the squad, that flew out yesterday for next weekend's Gold Coast Sevens, after Chris Dean sustained an ankle injury.
It will be his first taste of an HSBC Sevens World Series event and he will catch up with his cousin, Manueli Laqai, who has been named Fiji's captain for the tournament.
Nayacavou said: "It has all happened so quickly. When I got the phone call from [head coach] Stephen Gemmell I was delighted because I have worked hard to get to this stage and must thank everyone who has helped me settle in Scotland. I was sad for Deano though because I know what a big part of the team he is and how sad he will be at missing out."
Like many of his homeland, Nayacavou was introduced to sevens at an early age.
"As it is the national sport we play it all the time - after school, at weekends, whenever we get the chance to really," he said. "I used to enjoy playing in inter-school tournaments and tournaments among local clubs; there is always a great atmosphere whenever sevens is going on. Of course, we always liked to hear and see how the national team were doing too."
In 2008, Nayacavou travelled to the UK to undertake six months Army training and since then he has been a member of the 2 Scots Regiment based in Penicuik. He has also played club rugby for Heriot's in that time.
In November 2012 he was invited to train with the Scotland Sevens squad and, after working hard with the coaches on his fitness for the shortened form of the game, was involved in the FIRA-AER tournaments in Lyon and Bucharest earlier this year.
"The Gold Coast will be another step up in terms of standard, but we have a good squad with some old heads and exciting young players and I cannot wait to get out there and give it my best," he said.
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