Wes Goosen has been backed to play for Scotland after signing a new two-year contract with Edinburgh which will see him qualify for the national team on residency grounds in 2027. The full-back was born in South Africa and raised in New Zealand but if he remains in this country for the duration of his new deal he will have been with Edinburgh for five years, making him eligible for Scotland. Goosen, 29, has been capped at under-20 level by New Zealand but has never played a full Test. His coach at Edinburgh, Sean Everitt, believes that the player can make the step up if continues to play with the consistency he has shown over the last two seasons. He has played every minute of every match for Edinburgh across the current campaign. “Wes has already established himself as one of the best players in the URC and if he continues to develop to be in the mix with Scotland in 2027, I’ve got no doubt he has the potential to be an international level player,” said Everitt. Goosen, who joined Edinburgh in summer 2022 after impressing for the Wellington-based Hurricanes Super Rugby franchise, can also play wing or outside centre but has established himself at full-back this season, starting 17 of his 18 games in the No 15 jersey. He admitted that playing for Scotland was a goal although he didn’t want to jump the gun. “I had a brief thought [about Scotland],” he said. “I don’t want to get too ahead of myself - I just want to keep playing rugby, and I guess if I’m playing well enough, hopefully the rest will take care of itself.” World Rugby's eligibility rules explain when a "Player has a genuine, close, credible and established national link". As well as being born in the relevant country, a player can represent the national team if one parent or grandparent was born there. The criteria for playing for national sides also includes Regulation 8.2 (c) which grants eligibility if "the Player has been registered exclusively with a Union or Rugby Body in the country for sixty months immediately preceding the time of playing". Scotland already have a number of players who have qualified on residency grounds, the most recent being Tom Jordan. Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Schoeman qualified when the residency requirement was three years.