Not since legendary loose-head Mary Queen of Scots signed for Paris in the 16th century has there been such a Caledonian flavour to French rugby. We look at the 15 Scots plying their trade across l'Hexagon

For a nation with as little as 30,000 registered players, Scotland certainly punches above its weight when it comes to exporting rugby players. The likes of Nikki Walker (Ospreys), Sean Lamont (Scarlets), Kelly Brown (Saracens), Richie Vernon (Sale), Joe Ansbro (London Irish) and Simon Danielli (Ulster) all add a touch of quality to their respective clubs. The same can also be said about those Scots enjoying rugby life in France. Our Scottish rugby correspondent, Billet McLaren, gives us the lowdown:

Top 14

Mark Bennett (Clermont)
In one of the more intriguing transfer moves of the summer, 18-year-old centre Bennett was snapped up by les Auvergnats having made just one Magners League appearance for Glasgow. Having followed the tried and tested route of coming through the ranks at Cumnock, he went on to earn rave reviews for his performances with Ayr in Scotland’s Premier One last season. He also started all 10 games for the Scottish U20s in this year's U20 Six Nations and Rugby World Cup. A full season with the espoirs will no doubt prepare him for life in the Top 14.

Rory Lamont (Toulon)
The 29-year-old younger brother of Scarlets winger Sean, he began life with Glasgow, then onto Sale before a dream move to Toulon in July 2009. He’s since established himself as Toulon’s numero un numero quinze, making 24 starts last season and seeing off the challenge of promising ex-Albi full back Benjamin Lapeyre. He’s had a checkered career in the blue of Scotland and will surely add to his current tally of 29 caps if Andy Robinson moves on. Despite starring in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, scoring 4 tries, he made only 1 start during the 2011 edition.

Jason White (Clermont)
The battle-hardened 32-year-old flanker is now in his third season in the Massif Central. He’s generally struggled with injury, making only 13 league starts in his first two seasons, although this was due mainly to a broken fibula and tibia that kept him out for eight months. He’s played in all 8 games this season this campaign, with only appearance off the bench, in the unfamiliar position of lock. He’d previously spent six successful seasons with Sale having joined the Edgeley Park outfit from Glasgow. He’s been capped 76 times and also captained his country on numerous occasions.

Max Evans (Castres)
The 28-year-old brother of now-retired Thom, Max plied his trade with Glasgow in the Magners League before moving to the Stade Pierre Antoine in the summer, for whom he’s already up and running with two full games under his belt. The timing of the move is interesting, with both player and club on the up and enjoying unprecedented purple patches. Talking of which, the Scottish kit used to have said purple bits. The same kit Evans has worn 25 times, including a starting spot in all four of Andy Robinson’s team’s doomed 2011 RWC campaign.

Nathan Hines (Clermont)
This grizzled 34-year-old veteran needs very little introduction. Born in Wagga Wagga and a former rugby league player with the North Sydney Bears XIII, Hines moved to Scotland to start a new life with Gala RFC. He’s since played for Edinburgh, USAP and Leinster before opting to head back over the Channel in the summer to join Clermont. Despite winning 76 caps for Scotland and representing his adopted country with pride, he also has the dubious honour of being the first Scottish player to be sent off in a test match when he was red-carded against USA in 2002.

Scott Murray (Castres)
Murray is another vastly experienced lock. This 34-year-old began his career with Saracens before spending five years at Edinburgh. He moved to Montauban in 2007 and lived the dream with les Sapiacains for three big seasons, but jumped ship last year when the green and blacks were demoted to Fédérale 1. Life in l’ovalie obviously suits as he’s now in his second season at Castres. Although he struggled for game time last year, making only 7 league starts, the RWC has meant he’s played in all 8 league games to date, 5 from the first whistle. He’s also the proud owner of 77 Scottish caps.

Pro D2

Paul Dearlove (Pau)
The ultra-consistent, 32-year-old versatile back-rower is now in his seventh season at the Stade Hameau with Pau, for whom he’s a first-choice pick. His is an interesting story. Born in France to an Australian mother and South African father, whose own mother was Scottish, he’s eligible to play for four countries. He briefly played for Australia’s U21s but has pledged full allegiance to Scotland. Despite three successful seasons with Glasgow, the closest he got to a much-deserved cap was a try-scoring substitute appearance against NSW Country on the 2004 summer tour of Australia.

Scott Newlands (Oyonnax)
Newlands is a big, strong 25-year-old flanker who moved to the Stade Charles Mathon from Edinburgh in summer. The Kelso-born Scotland A and Sevens international began his career with local outfit Border Reivers, before spending four seasons with Edinburgh. Whilst there, he struggled to nail down a starting spot in a team not renowned for its back row stars, so made the move to Le Rugby favourites Oyonnax in June. He’s only missed one league game so far this season and is already looking like another typically astute, under-the-radar Oyonnax capture.

Craig Smith (Narbonne)
After serving his apprenticeship at Berwick and Melrose, this veteran 32-year-old tight head prop spent nine long seasons at Edinburgh. He’s since been making up for lost time as he’s now at his third French club in four seasons, after spells with Racing Metro and Dax led him to a move to Narbonne over the summer. Last season at Dax was his best ever as he made 21 starts from 27 appearances. Prior to that, he was the archetypal journeyman, making a measly one league appearance for Racing Metro in 2009/10. The last of his 25 international caps came during the 2008 Six Nations campaign.

Martin Worthington (Tarbes)
We’ve long since pushed the case of this talented 31-year-old centre who’s carved out a nice little career for himself in France - read his full profile here. Spells with Blagnac and Gaillac were the hors d’oeuvres for the main course in Tarbes (ho ho!) for this former professional footballer. He’s now in his fourth season at the Stade Maurice Trélut and the locals love him. He’s a game machine who’ll be closing in on the 100 game mark for les Hohoistes at the end of this campaign, if he stays injury free. He can also count himself unlucky to have not had the call from the national selectors, judging by the ‘quality’ of play of Scottish centres in recent times.

Craig Hamilton (Tarbes)
Is there another Scottish journeyman playing for Tarbes (ho ho!)? You’d better believe it! Hamilton’s a 32-year-old lock who's done the rounds with Newcastle, Glasgow, Border Reivers and Edinburgh, although during his 8 seasons with these clubs he’s started only 88 games. He joined Tarbes (ho ho!) over the summer and is fighting hard to establish himself as a first team regular. The bulky Dumfries-born lineout specialist has also bagged 9 Scottish caps, his last appearance being in a 13-26 reverse to Wales in the 2009 Six Nations.

Patrick Boyer (Tarbes)
Here we have yet another youngster who’s made the move from Glasgow to France to further his career, joining his experienced countrymen at Tarbes. Scrum-half Paddy learnt his trade with Highland RFC before moving south to play for the Hawks. Prior to that he’d represented Scotland at all age levels up to and including U19s. The former Fortrose Academy pupil, who was voted National Division 2 player of the year in 2007-08, made the move from Glasgow to Tarbes (ho ho!) in August and is currently playing for the club's Espoirs under-23 side. He has one of the more readable Twitter accounts at @Patrick_Boyer, although it's not quite as readable as ours at @lerugby naturally.

Fédérale 1

James Rennie (St Jean de Luz)
Our venture into the Fédérale jungles begins with this talented young back rower, who has represented Scotland at U18, U19 and U20 level. He had a spell with Taranaki in the land of the longtemps nuage blanc before hooking up with Gennevilliers in 2008. He moved to Pays Basque in the summer of 2009 and is now in his third season with St Jean de Luz. He’s struggled for game time at the unimaginatively called Stade du Pavillon Bleu, making only 7 starts during this time. Rennie is also a qualified skiing instructor, having been in the British Junior Skiing team between the ages of 15-19.

Gary Strain (Massy)
This 23-year-old loose-head prop began life with Scottish Premier One outfit Glasgow Hawks. He went on to win a place at the Scottish National Academy in 2008, alongside the likes of future stars such as Richie Gray and Duncan Weir. He won five caps for the U20s during the 2008 Junior RWC but failed to break into Glasgow’s regional team. In July he penned a deal with ambitious Massy and he’s already making an impact with les Massicois. If Strain carries on in the same vein, he could earn himself a move into the big time that could propel him onto the radar of the national selectors.

Ian Boyer (Massy)
Safety in numbers in foreign climes is never a bad thing. Joining Strain on the journey from Glasgow to Paris-based outfit Massy over the summer was this speedy 23 year-old full back. His formative rugby years saw him playing for the likes of Highland RFC and Hamilton RFC, before linking up with the Hawks. He’s yet to make his senior debut at the Stade Jules Ladoumègue but will be hungry for action. In the meantime he can use up his pent up energy to try and find somewhere local to practice his love of snowboarding (though he may have better luck near his brother Patrick's Pyrenean pad).