Neil Herron was handed an early 18th birthday present yesterday when he was named in the Scotland Sevens squad for next season.

The Jordanhill School student, 18 on Friday, joins Edinburgh Academy's Chris Dean and Alex Glashan as young players who hope to follow in the footsteps of such as Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and Adam Ashe, who made an impact as teenagers this year.

Good performances for Scotland Under-17s in the Wellington Festival in New Zealand last year alerted a number of people to Herron's potential.

In September he was part of the Scotland Sevens squad that took part in the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man and then went on to play a full season for the West of Scotland first XV after joining the Burnbrae club.

Scotland Sevens squad (to be supplemented) C Gregor, A Turnbull, S Dewar, M Robertson, J Fleming, R Weir, M Maltman, R Hughes, N Herron, C Dean, A Glashan