Called into the squad as a replacement for the injured Richard Hill, White took the Scottish contingent in the squad back up to three by joining Gordon Bulloch and Chris Cusiter.

A hugely powerful man, the Sale Sharks forward first broke onto the international scene in Scotland's Calcutta Cup win in 2000.

He went on to tour New Zealand and cemented his place in the Scotland team before playing against USA, Australia and Samoa; all this just three years after skippering the under-19 national side at the World Junior Championship.

But White had an up-and-down year in 2001 and took some time to recover from the blow of being dropped for the Six Nations clash with England having faced France and Wales previously.

His versatility proved a poisoned chalice as he was swapped between flanker and lock but in recent times he has found himself a regular fixture in the Scotland No 6 shirt, his usual position for Sale.

A big hitter both defensively and with ball in hand, White was thought to have been a certainty for the original squad but a broken wrist meant he was unable to prove his fitness to Sir Clive Woodward until the days before his call-up.