He received his first cap for Scotland in November 1998, in an autumn international test match against South Africa. He had played a part in all the team's matches when Scotland won the 1999 Five Nations Championship, where he was a replacement in the first three matches before Jim Telfer selected him in the starting line-up for the match against France in Paris. He was part of the Scotland squad for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, playing in four matches. He scored a try against New Zealand in the quarter-finals, although the All Blacks won the match and brought Scotland's tournament came to an end. In January 2002, returning from injury, he captained Scotland against England