Damien Hoyland could find Scotland tour niche at full-back as he reflects on disrupted season and coffee sideline

Five injury-interrupted years after winning his last cap Damien Hoyland has returned to the national squad and is determined to use Scotland’s tour of South America to prove he belongs at this level.

The winger/full-back spent many match-days last season selling lattes to fans from a horse box behind Edinburgh’s new stadium. Sidelined by a knee issue, Hoyland was able to indulge in his other passion and his ‘Damo’s Coffee’ stall has been a regular fixture at Edinburgh home games.

But nothing beats being back out on the pitch and the player enjoyed a strong finish to the season having returned from injury earlier than expected.

HIs reward was a call from Gregor Townsend and Hoyland is likely to be involved on Saturday when Scotland open the tour with an A international against Chile in Santiago.

It’s been a long road to get here for Hoyland, with quite a few bumps along the way. The last two of his four caps were won on the 2017 tour, in Singapore and Suva, just after Townsend had taken charge, but he made his debut two years prior to that, in a summer Test against Italy in Turin.

“[It’s] probably not [gone] the way I would have liked with the national team, to be honest,” he said from the Scotland team’s base in the Chilean capital.

“I think I did really well to get involved seven years ago but I slipped away and had quite a lot of injuries in that period and struggled to get back in the mix. I’m really excited to be back involved now and I want to make the most of this opportunity and grab it with both hands.

“Every time you're in camp and involved with the Scotland squad it’s a chance to showcase what you’ve got. I’m here to get the best out of myself and show what I’m about, and hopefully if that goes well you never