Edinburgh agree deal to sign Scotland international tighthead prop Javan Sebastian from Scarlets

The 28-year-old, who has three Scotland caps, will make the move north from BKT United Rugby Championship rivals Scarlets and describes the next step of his career as “massively exciting”.

Sebastian was born and raised in Wales, but his father was born and raised in the capital and he made his Scotland debut against Japan in November 2021. He played for Ayr during a season-long partnership contract with Glasgow Warriors in 2015/16 but has been back at Scarlets since the summer of 2017.

“Leaving Scarlets certainly wasn’t an easy decision and I’ve got a huge debt of gratitude to the club,” he said. “They are my home region and gave me my first opportunity to play professionally.

Javan Sebastian has three Scotland caps and will join Edinburgh this summer. Picture: Ross MacDonald / SNS

“However, this move to Edinburgh is massively exciting and it’s an opportunity that I genuinely can’t wait to get stuck into. The club is really ambitious with a talented squad and cracking new stadium, and Edinburgh is a beautiful city.

“This is a fresh challenge for me and one that really excites me because of my aspirations to continue playing international rugby. Hopefully I can keep myself in a strong position with Scotland by playing consistently for Edinburgh. I obviously know quite a lot of the Edinburgh boys from Scotland camp. I can’t wait to link up with the squad this summer and hit the ground running.”

Sebastian represented Wales at both U16 and U18 levels but earned a Scotland call-up in the summer of 2021 for fixtures against England A, Georgia and Romania, all of which were eventually cancelled due to Covid-19. He tighthead eventually made his international debut that autumn – coming on as replacement against Japan at BT Murrayfield – before featuring in two of three Tests against the Pumas in last summer’s tour to Argentina.

Edinburgh head coach Mike Blair added: “Javan is a player that we’ve been able to track for some time and we’ve been hugely impressed with his performances for both Scarlets and Scotland. He’s an excellent scrummager which we want to develop into his super strength and he has the skill set to thrive in our environment.”