The first South African to play for Scotland was Jim MacDonald, a Matie studying medicine at Edinburgh University. James Stirling MacDonald was born in Stellenbosch in 1 July 1879 and was at Victoria College before going to Edinburgh. He played wing in five matches for Scotland in 1903-05, after which he returned to South Africa. MacDonald was dropped to make way for another South African - Harold McCowat. McCowat was born in Durban on 30 April 1882. The family then moved to Johannesburg in 1887, making them Rand pioneers. From 1896 to 1898 he was educated at Bishops but then went to Scotland with his young brother Woodburn. They went to Glasgow Academy, and he was playing for Glasgow Academicals when he played wing for Scotland against Ireland in 1905. He then returned to South Africa and died in Johannesburg on 20 March 1956, a bachelor whose first names were Robert Harold.
