The Dumfries-born star enjoyed a fantastic start to last season alongside Cairns, which propelled him into the Scotland side at the start of the RBS 6 Nations.

Although his debut international season didn’t pan out as he would have planned the 24-year-old regained his form before the end of the campaign.

Meanwhile his club team-mate Cairns as well as fellow Edinburgh star Phil Godman made excellent impressions on Scotland’s summer tour to Argentina.

He said: “Last season was the first time we consistently played together in midfield and I think Ben and I got a better understanding.

“Also with Phil Godman there we seem to click very well together. We have to make sure all three of us are on form in order to keep that going; starting with our first friendly game against Wasps.

“We’ll be up against the likes of Riki Flutey, who is big news down there, and we need to make sure we start brightly.”