Glasgow Hawks and BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy centre Patrick Kelly has joined London Scottish on a short-term loan.
Kelly – who made a try-scoring debut in the club’s 31-30 away win over Rotherham Titans – is the sixth player to join the English Championship side this season as part of a performance partnership with the governing body and the Richmond club.
He will be reacquainted with fellow age-grade internationalists Cameron Fenton, Ally Miller, Hugh Fraser, Tom Galbraith and Ben Robbins.
Also at the club are Scottish Rugby’s Head of International Age-Grade Rugby, Sean Lineen, who has taken up the role of Director of Rugby on a part-time basis, and former Scotland U20 coach, John Dalziel, who arrived in August.
Kelly said: "I’m very excited to have the opportunity to play for Scottish.
"It's a great club with a talented group of boys and I'm looking forward to being tested in a professional team environment.
This is the perfect place for me to develop and to compete in a professional league."
- - Patrick Kelly
A product of Highland, Kelly has made nine appearances for Scotland U20, starting all five appearances in the 2015 6 Nations – playing a key role in the country’s three victories against Wales, Italy and Ireland – before completing his tenure at the World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Italy that year.
Kelly joined Hawks from French National B team Le Parc, whom he joined after helping Merchiston Castle School reach the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Cup final in 2012.
Earlier this year Scottish Rugby and London Scottish announced a new partnership to support the development of a joint performance programme.
The agreement, which is resource focused, will see regular coaching, playing and high performance support provided by Scottish Rugby to the club.
It will provide a further professional rugby environment for identified players and coaches, as well as benefitting their personal and professional development.
Selected pro-team, BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy and Scottish age-grade players will be based at the Richmond Athletic Ground and available to London Scottish for English Championship and B&I Cup fixtures.
Scottish Rugby’s Head of International Age-Grade Rugby, Sean Lineen, has taken up the role of Director of Rugby on a part-time basis to lead the on-field direction of the performance programme and support current London Scottish Head Coach, Peter Richards.