His job is to be in the right place at the right time when opportunities present themselves.

Sean Maitland certainly did that during the winter, arriving from the southern hemisphere this winter and earning himself a chance to claim a return ticket in the form of a British & Irish Lions call up.

Six months ago, before his fellow kilted Kiwi Sean Lineen sought him out and persuaded him that joining Glasgow Warriors could transform his life, no one in Scotland was aware that Canterbury Crusaders' top try-scorer in 2011 was seriously thinking about switching his allegiance to his grandparents' home country.

There are, of course, plenty of cynics out there who have cast doubt over Maitland's claims that he was brought up acutely aware of the Scottishness that is part of his make-up, reckoning he has merely used a flag of convenience after it became clear that his ambition to become an All Black would be unfulfilled. Maitland has, however, been very honest about how disappointing that had been, while his response when asked this week whether there had been similarly strong feelings about playing for the Lions when he was growing up ought to go a long way towards dispelling that.

The politically correct answer would, after all, have been to say that he regards Lions selection as an extraordinary accolade and that he would view involvement with a team that tours only every four years as the ultimate achievement. But that is not what he said.

"I never really thought about it," admitted Maitland. "I always thought about playing for Scotland and it's maybe a bit of a luck thing that I came over here and the Lions tour was on, but it's just coincidence really."

Not that he is in any way seeking to withdraw himself from consideration. Indeed, now that he finds himself in contention he has, as any natural competitor should, reset his targets.

"I know for a couple of guys it's definitely a goal of theirs and this game is another trial match," he said. "For me it is a goal but in saying that there's a lot of quality wingers out there. Whether I've done enough to prove myself I'm not sure but definitely all the boys are thinking about it."

Even south of the border there are those who believe Maitland has done sufficiently well already to be a front-runner for a Test place against the Australians this summer, let alone making the Lions tour. How Warren Gatland, who like Maitland was once an All Black Test contender but did not quite make it – Gatland made 17 tour appearances for his national side without playing in a full international, while Maitland's omission from the 2011 World Cup squad was a surprise – looks at it, only the Lions head coach knows.

It is conceivable that Gatland could take the view that New Zealand coaches identified a significant problem in Maitland's game that has yet to become obvious on this side of the equator, but he may also realise that bringing a player who has such experience of the conditions – he spent five seasons in the Crusaders team – could offer a very useful shortcut. What is beyond doubt, though, is that, along with Stuart Hogg and Tim Visser, the 24-year-old has helped provide Scotland with the sort of consistent attacking threat they have not boasted in a decade.

His try haul may be confined to Scotland's first match of this campaign, against England, but the threat he presents was demonstrated last weekend as he comfortably topped the table for yards made by a Scottish player with ball in hand, having gone 75 metres made from nine carries.

His dissatisfaction with his own efforts can also be considered a plus. "Actually when I looked at the footage after the Wales game there were a lot of opportunities, especially in counter-attack," he said, candidly contradicting the general perception that there were insufficient chances for Scotland's back three to get into the game.

"They kicked a lot of ball to us. You could say we didn't get much ball but I felt I had a lot of chances to do a lot with it and maybe didn't take the right options a few times. So, yeah, I think there were a lot of opportunities for myself."

There was a similar tone struck when he refused to blame the style of rugby played in the northern hemisphere for his failure to add to that Twickenham touchdown. "I could sit here and try to explain how different Super rugby is to over here but the way we're playing our style . . . Scotland rugby, creating our own sort of attacking plan based on setpiece, it is different," he said.

"We've got a lot of quality in our team and we're just maybe lacking that last five per cent when we get down to a team's try line, whether we play tight or we try to spread them. I think we're just sometimes not thinking too well with the forwards and the backs and once they get right we can definitely put some teams away.

"There were a lot of opportunities out there against Wales but maybe hitting a pick and go gave the Welsh defence a chance to realign and that's the opportunity lost. Sometimes it is frustrating but there were a lot of opportunities out there and once we start nailing them and start understanding how we play it as a team, it will be good."

The evidence of Scotland's meetings with France in the last couple of years should offer him some encouragement in that regard, ahead of a match in Paris on Saturday. He has joined a team that scored only 10 tries in the 2011 and 2012 Six Nations, although half of those were registered against a French team who are more inclined to rely on their own ability to attack rather than placing greater emphasis on defence, as has become the norm on this side of the channel. Additional room for manoeuvre could be the perfect opportunity to leave a lasting impression this weekend.

Everything suggests that Maitland is an individual who is capable of taking it by finishing in the final match of this championship as he did at its outset.