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“It's been a really good week,” said the 22 year old Edinburgh centre.  “It's my first full involvement with the squad and it's given me a chance to see where I am in terms of the rest of Scotland.  You pick up so much training with experienced guys like Chris Paterson. Being selected for the squad means I am fairly close.”
 
Like the rest of the squad Cairns is acutely aware of the current levels of optimism in Scottish rugby.
 
“It's looking rosy,” he said.  “I think it's down to the fact we have got a lot of young talented guys and a mix of older, senior Scottish players that are driving things forwards and it's working well.
 
“A lot's been made of the fact there's a lot of young players in the squad.  A lot of guys have come through the systems with the Area Institutes, then through the Scottish Institute and the national academies that the Institutes support.  That has made a massive difference and it's starting to show in the senior squads now.”  
 
One of the first rugby players inducted into the East of Scotland Institute of Sport (along with Nick De Luca, who has been confirmed for the 23 strong squad, and Ross Rennie, part of the provisional squad) and a Scottish Institute of Sport supported athlete for the last two years, Cairns is full of praise for the system in place in Scotland to help develop rugby talent.
 
“The Area Institute support has made a massive difference,” said Cairns, a former Heriot-Watt University sports scholar.  “When I was 15 or 16 that was the first year we had the Area Institutes working with the Academy.  I came all the way through with the National Academy structure with the Institutes supporting us.  All the support is there and it's proven with the young guys that have come through and are now in the senior squad.
 
“I was involved with the 7s leading up to the Commonwealth Games.  That's when I first went into the Scottish Institute and I had a lot of good feedback from them.  Bob Easson is excellent; if there's anything he thinks might help you he organises for you to try it. Anything that might help me become a better player, the Institute have provided.  That's a massive support to have.”