Luke here - and his target is to gain a Scotland place Caledonians' South African signing could have a chance to wear the dark blue

Smith explained: ''After being sidelined for two years because of a serious knee injury, I made up my mind to continue my career in Europe. ''When I told my agent about my family background, he set about getting me fixed up with a Scottish team.''

Despite his lack of direct involvement with rugby in this country and having spent most of his life in South Africa, Smith admitted he would have no qualms about appearing in Scotland colours.

He declared: ''The ultimate goal for any player is to play at international level and as soon as I found out that I could be elligible for Scotland, my sights were set.''

Smith's career has been something of a see-saw experience since breaking into the Northern Transvaal side at the start of the decade as deputy to the legendary Naas Botha. He has played for several other SA provinces before being struck down by severe ligament damage.

Smith is also looking forward to pursuing his two other sporting interests - golf and football.

Smith is likely to make his Reds debut in Sunday's second Tri Series clash with the Edinburgh Reivers at Aberdeen.

He will be vying for the No.10 jersey with the Cook Islander Tommy Hayes, and admitted he will have to be at his best to get his nose in front.

Luke is also in line to face up to his countrymen when Caley take on the touring Springboks in six weeks' time.

qMurrayfield will be the venue today for the second of the Scotland squad sessions in the lead-up to the quartet of autumn internationals starting next month when the Scots face the New Zealand Maoris.

Missing from the Murrayfield get-together today will be the Exiles, and it is also unlikely that active parts will be taken by Gordon Simpson and Tom Smith, the two Glasgow Caledonian forwards currently on the injured list.

One Exile bucking the trend is Budge Pountney, the Northampton flanker. He is not required for club duties, and has been given permission to attend the squad session by Northampton's director of rugby, Ian McGeechan. Pountey was one of a number of ''extras'' at the last squad session, all of whom are expected to be at Murrayfield again today.

Absent from the session will be Matthew Proudfood, the Reivers' prop, who was badly injured in the European match against Toulouse at Easter Road nine days ago.

Proudfoot will learn on Thursday if any action is to be taken against Hughes Miorin, the Toulouse and France lock whose tactics led to his neck injury.

Of greater interest to Proudfoot will be the result of a second scan to determine if there is any damage caused by the alleged accident.

If he is ruled out, it leaves David Hilton and Gordon McIlwham from the current squad in line for the tighthead spot, but there remains the probability of a recall for Barry Stewart.

According to Ian Rankin, the Reivers' head coach, Stewart performed well in the set pieces against Ebbw Vale last Saturday. Among those wanting to impress will be Craig Chalmers, back in the Reivers side as first choice for the stand-off position ahead of Duncan Hodge.

That isn't the way the national selectors view the pecking order, but as Jim Telfer, the Scotland head coach confirmed, there could be additions as well as deletions to the squad of 27 named last month.

There is variance in the choice of Shaun Longstaff, who, in the Glasgow-Caledonian context, now finds himself behind Derek Stark. Against Treviso, Stark more than justified his selection by revealing a range of skills hitherto rarely seen in his repertoire.

The lesson here is that it is unwise to write off too early a player like Stark, who, although not an instinctive ball player, still has the athlete's capacity to learn skills in the right environment.

The Reds victory over the Italians also provided further evidence that Rowen Shepherd is determined to retain the inside centre position that became his on the Scotland tour of Fiji and Australia last summer.

Quite apart from his two tries, Shepherd showed solid defence in midfield and, as in Australia, the ability to break the first tackle. Whether he has the confidence of the top brass remains to be seen, and it will depend to a large extent on how Alan Tait performs in the next few matches for the Reivers now that the British Lion has been given the chance to express his talents in the absence of the injured Graham Shiel.

There were plus points for the attacking skills of Glenn Metcalfe and plenty of credits for the Reds forwards who battled well against their heavier opponents.

Notably for Stuart Grimes who again displayed the all-round qualities that have brought him international honours.

Grimes is in competition with Doddie Weir and Scott Murray for the two Scots' lock positions but maybe his mobile game might be more suited to the back row, the position he occupied at Scotland under 21 level.

And thanks to Caledonians for turning out in the correct strip and not the badly co-ordinated colour scheme they donned in earlier European ties and which had bemused spectators wondering whether to shout for the ''Reds'' or the - ''Pink and Pale Blues.''