Robert Harley enjoyed a storming first year as a professional in season 2010/11, earning praise from all quarters with his combative and relentless style in the back row and winning a call up to the wider Scotland squad for the Rugby World Cup.

With regular captain Al Kellock away at the global gathering, Harley was named as Warriors skipper for the opening 2011/12 RaboDirect PRO12 game against Ulster at Ravenhill.

He signed for Warriors in summer 2010 having earned Scotland representative honours at u17, u18 and u20 levels.

Robert’s performances for club and country earned him a contract at the Warriors where he began his professional career after the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina where he started all but one game (featured as a replacement against South Africa) and scored in the ninth-place play off final defeat to Ireland.

Robert made his debut for West of Scotland in season 2006/07 while he was still a pupil at Douglas Academy, Milngavie.

That season, too, he played for the Scotland u17 team who won all three of their matches in the Millfield School international festival in Somerset, and he went on to start in all six of the national under-18 team’s matches in March-April 2008, including the three in the Six Nations Festival in Cork, Ireland.

Harley had played for Scotland at under-17 and under-18 levels before he made his Scotland under-20 debut as a replacement against Samoa in the IRB Junior World Championship in Japan in June 2009.

Two more replacement appearances followed in that tournament before he started in the wins against Fiji and Tonga. His youth and experience meant that he would go one to be a key member of the 2010 Under-20 Six Nations where he started every match.

Honours: Scotland A, Scotland u20, Scotland u18, Scotland u17