John was signed as an apprentice by Glasgow Warriors at the age of 17 in summer 2004, and in October that year, less than a month after his 18th birthday, he was included in the extended squad for Scotland’s autumn Tests.
That was even before he had made his Glasgow debut, which followed in November that year, when he made a replacement appearance in the victory against Borders.
It was only two days too late for him to claim the record of the youngest player to appear in a Celtic League match.
He spent season 2005-06 as a member of the Scottish Institute of Sport and an apprentice for Glasgow Warriors, playing in 17 matches, starting in all six of Warriors’ Heineken Cup pool matches.
He made a considerable impact playing in the back-row for Scotland under-18 in the 2004 Four Home Unions' tournament, and he played for Scottish Thistles on the European seven-a-side circuit tournament in Budapest in 2003.
John played in all five of Scotland’s matches in the 2005 IRB Under 19 World Championship in Durban, South Africa, captaining the team in the opening game against England and scoring the vital try in the win against Romania.
His under-21 international debut was in Falkirk against France, and a week later he played against the Welsh at Newport. Because of injury early in that game he missed the Falkirk match against England, but he returned to play in the away wins against Ireland and Italy.
He then played in all five matches in the under-21 world championship in France, scoring a try against Georgia.
John helped Dollar Academy to an impressive 27-14 win against Dundee High School in the Bell Lawrie White Scottish Schools Cup final at Murrayfield in 2004.
John has been awarded several accolades including the Macphail Rugby Scholarship and the Daily Record Sporting Heroes of the Future.
He is a member of the Scottish Institute of Sport.