Alasdair Dickinson scored his first try for Scotland in the EMC Test win against Italy before Scotland set off for New Zealand the 2011 Rugby World Cup during which he made three substitute appearances.  He made his Scotland debut in the 2007 Rugby World Cup match against New Zealand at Murrayfield less than two weeks after he had been called into the squad following Allan Jacobsen’s leg injury against Portugal in his country’s opening match of that tournament. His second cap followed when he made his Six Nations Championship debut as a replacement in Scotland 15-9 victory against England in the Calcutta Cup match at Murrayfield in March 2008. It was nearly a year later before he made his first start in a Six Nations match – against France in Paris after eight replacement appearances. He played in all five matches in that championship, starting in three.

Alasdair, who joined Edinburgh Rugby as an apprentice in 2004 while turning out for Heriot’s, played in all three of Scotland A’s matches in the 2006 Barclays Churchill Cup in Canada, scoring a try in the final against New Zealand Maori. He continued in that team for the game against Australia A at McDiarmid Park, Perth, in November 2006 and had three more games for Scotland A in the 2007 Churchill Cup in England. Following that tournament he was among five uncapped players in Scotland’s Rugby World Cup preparation squad, though he was not included among the final 30 players who travelled to France for the start of the tournament. He scored two more tries for Scotland A in February 2008, one each in the wins against Italy A (37-15 at Mogliano) and Ireland A (67-7 at McDiarmid Park, Perth). His performances in those matches earned him his Six Nations debut the following month, with replacement appearances against England and Italy.

After three seasons with Edinburgh he joined Gloucester for season 2007-2008. The Dundee High School former pupil has represented Scotland at all age-grade levels, including three world championships – under-19 in 2002, and under-21 in 2003 and 2004. He has also played for Caledonia at under-18 and under-19.