FROM training at Meadowmill before going to school to potentially playing for his country in front of a crowd of thousands.

It has been quite the journey for Scott King, who has been selected as part of Sean Lineen’s Scotland squad for the under-20s Six Nations.

The tournament, which will be played entirely in Cardiff over the space of less than five weeks, gets under way on Saturday.

King, of Port Seton, is joined in the squad by fellow former Preston Lodge High School pupil Cameron Scott and Ben Muncaster, from North Berwick.

King (pictured above, image by SNS/ Scottish Rugby) pointed to the success of fellow East Lothian rugby stars as an inspiration, with Rory Darge named in the senior Scotland squad for three upcoming contests.

He said: “Myself, Rory and Roan Frostwick as well, we are all East Lothian boys and used to train together.

“It is weird going from training together at Meadowmill on Tuesday mornings before school to seeing them perform on the biggest stage.

“It is weird getting motivation from your mates but it works.

“It does push you on that little bit further.”

The format of this year’s competition is different to any other year, with each of the matches being played at Cardiff Arms Park, which hosted a number of the matches in the Rugby World Cup 30 years ago.

Scotland kick-off the tournament against Ireland at 2pm on Saturday before England play France at 5pm and Italy take on Wales at 8pm.

The tournament continues with Scotland playing England on June 25 before facing Italy on July 1.

King, Scott, Muncaster and teammates then face France on July 7 before wrapping up the tournament with the final game, against the hosts on July 13.

The former Cockenzie Primary School pupil, who heads to Wales with the squad tomorrow (Monday), said: “It is interesting and it is almost a similar format to the World Cup.

“We will go away, stay together for about a month and I think that a lot of positives will come with that as well.

“You get a lot closer to your teammates – get to know them a lot better than you would normally if you were just in on the weekends or weekdays as you would in a normal Six Nations.

“It is just a really good opportunity to get closer with your team and explore Cardiff a wee bit.

“There are no flights off to France or Italy this year.

“It will be good to just have downtime with the boys as well.”

It is unclear if fans will be allowed into the stadium for the matches as coronavirus restrictions are reviewed.

The 20-year-old inside centre was hopeful spectators would be there cheering the countries on and said: “It brings a lot more emotion into it.

“When we played England at under18s down at Billingham the place was absolutely jam-packed with folk.

“It brings just a different element that you don’t normally get at club games; a different sort of emotion comes with it.”

King has already represented Scotland at under-16s, under-17s, under-18s and under-19s level.

He was also part of the under-20s Six Nations squad last year but did not feature.

Now, he is getting ready to once again line up for Scotland.

He said: “It is pretty special being called up for your country.

“I’ve played a few age grade games before so it is a pretty good feeling to get invited back almost.

“It never really changes though whether you are under-16s or under20s, it is still pretty special to be called up.”