Byron McGuigan reflects on his Scotland debut

Sale Sharks wing Byron McGuigan described his full debut for Scotland as a 'dream come true' moment.

The 28-year-old was initially named on the bench for the final round of the autumn international clash against Australia but was handed a start following a late injury to Stuart Hogg with Sean Maitland moving to fullback.

McGuigan made his opportunity count with two tries as the Dark Blues completed a 53-24 victory over the Wallabies at BT Murrayfield Stadium that won him the man of the match award.

Excited by his performance last weekend, McGuigan now is hoping to replicate the same when he links up with the Aviva Premiership club Sale Sharks.

"It was a childhood dream and to be able fulfil it on Saturday was something special. To score two tries on my first full start for Scotland was awesome and something I will always look back on fondly," Byron admitted.

"It was a really special day. At a sold-out Murrayfield and to put in a performance like that against Australia was really enjoyable.

"Being asked to start after I was initially selected on the bench didn’t affect me too much.

"Stuart Hogg had suffered with a bit of a niggle in the week so we had prepared for that kind of situation and when I was asked to start I was quite relaxed and ready to do my job for the Scotland team.

"It has been a fantastic few weeks with Scotland. They are a great bunch of boys, they work really hard and to come into such a good team and to have put in three really good performances has been very enjoyable.

"It was a team effort. The boys around me put me into space and I had confidence coming into the team from Sale and to be able to carry on that form with Scotland was very special.

"Now I am looking forward to getting back to the day job with Sale.

"It was great to see the boys get a good result at the weekend against Northampton and now it is about us kicking on from there."