Tipped by his former under-20s head coach Sean Lineen as a future British and Irish Lion, Scotland’s emerging star Mark Bennett credits both his time as an age-grade international and a spell playing overseas for developing him into the player he is today.

The 22-year-old centre from Ayr is one of 28 current Scotland internationals to have graduated from the World Rugby U20 Championship to the test arena with only Australia and Argentina having capped more.

But Bennett also took another road less-travelled in 2011 before achieving the ultimate dream of playing for his country, a feat he first achieved in November last year, having removed himself from the Scottish system – and his comfort zone – to accept a contract offer from French giants Clermont Auvergne.

Coached there by current Scotland national team boss Vern Cotter, Bennett believes he became a much more rounded player and person following his spell across the channel.

“I actually still lived at home until I moved out there, so never mind the culture shock I had to get used to living by myself too. With not speaking the language it was a bold move, but it’s one that I absolutely loved," he tells this week's edition of World Rugby TV.

“The support in the city is huge, I remember coming off the bench for a brief appearance in a first team pre-season friendly one Friday night and then being stopped in the street the next day by people wanting to wish me the best of luck.” 

A British Lion in the making? - The BIG Interview
We caught up with Scotland centre Mark Bennett to talk all things rugby, including his performance in the Six Nations so far and future ambitions within the game

Bennett had only played a handful of games for Glasgow when he first caught the eye of Clermont after scoring a hat-trick against Italy and then impressing for the Scotland under-20s against France.

It wasn’t all plain-sailing though, as Bennett explains. “Just after I moved out I got a serious knee injury which set me back for six months. When I got back playing again I maybe wasn’t as quick and as sharp on my feet as I was before so that made me develop the handling side of my game and I became more tactically aware. It seemed unfortunate at the time but the benefits seem to have stood me in good stead.”

The roaring 20s

Bennett represented Scotland in a total of three World Rugby U20s tournaments - then known as the Junior World Championship - and is delighted to see so many of his peers involved in the senior set-up.

“In my first year with the under-20s I wasn’t involved in any professional (club) outfit, so to come in and have weeks of training, sometimes doing two/three sessions a day, was great for me to learn what it was all about.

“I played in the same age group with Stuart Hogg, Jonny Gray, Adam Ashe, Finn Russell and Tommaso Allan, who’s now playing for Italy. It’s great to see that progression from the under-20s through to the first team and it’s a little bit of continuity in there.”

Familiarity is a theme running through the Scottish backline, with Glasgow players taking up every position from 10 to 15 in the recent 22-19 loss at home to Italy, in which Bennett raced away to score after an interception.

His instinctive style of play seems to be the perfect foil for midfield partner Alex Dunbar's more direct approach.

"I’ve played with Alex a fair bit. He does all the hard stuff and I just feed off the back of it. He’ll run through a brick wall for you which helps me out a lot. It does make things easier having all the Glasgow players in there," Bennett admitted.

This interview can be seen on this week's World Rugby TV show. The show also looks back at the latest Six Nations action, goes access all areas with Georgia ahead of their European Nations Cup match in Spain, joins Uruguay's team manager on a visit to venues and facilities they will use at RWC 2015, relive the remaining two quarter-finals from RWC 1995 and more.