SCOTLAND internationalist Darcy Graham will make his first appearance of the season for Edinburgh Rugby when they face Wasps in the European Challenge Cup this evening, with head coach Richard Cockerill making seven changes to his side.
Graham has recovered from a quad strain that has kept him side-lined since the World Cup and will make his first start for the club since April. Assistant coach Duncan Hodge admits he is delighted to see the winger back in the starting line-up.
“It’s always great to bring in guys of Darcy’s calibre, so we’re really excited to see him play alongside Duhan (van der Merwe) in that back three,” he said.
“Our challenge is to get the ball out to him, and I can’t wait to see him play.”
George Taylor and James Johnstone get the nod in midfield and Hodge has, he says, been hugely impressed with Taylor this season so far.
“He’s done really well. The 15 minutes he played off the bench last week (against Munster) he was really good, and when he’s started he’s been excellent. He’s diligent at his work and he gives us a point of difference because he’s strong and has made a couple of line breaks and generally done very well,” said Hodge.
“He’s clinical with the ball, which is one thing that’s helped George. He’s obviously played 13 and he’s played 12, but when he’s been on the bench we’ve asked him to cover the wing and fullback as well, so he’s versatile and a really good all-round rugby player.”
Simon Hickey is selected at stand-off and in the pack and Jamie Ritchie and Nick Haining return from injury and suspension respectively to start in the back-row. Haining replaces Bill Mata, who is being rested and that, says Hodge, is just about managing how much game-time each player gets.
“It was down to workload,” said Hodge.
“Nick was playing really well - he’s obviously been out with a two-week break, but before that he played really well at Agen and he played well for the rest of the season, so he gets a shot. It’s all about creating some competition, and back row is one of those hotspots. But Bill can have a big impact off the bench and he’s got to step up and match Nick.”
Wasps are currently languishing in tenth place in the English Premiership and there had been some suggestions they would rest some of their big names for their European campaign and focus on the domestic business.
However, that is not the case and they have named a strong line-up including Malakai Fekitoa, Lima Sopoaga, Dan Robson, Keiran Brookes, Jack Willis and Sione Vailanu.
Hodge though is not surprised at facing such a strong line-up and he is relishing being tested against such a strong side.
“Obviously they’re struggling a bit in the Premiership but you look at their team and they’ve got some great players there,” he said.
“They have a couple of relatively recent All Blacks in the back line. They’ve got lots of quality, why they’re struggling it’s difficult to put your finger on it but they need a win and need to get some momentum in the Premiership so they’ve come fully loaded.
“That’s a great thing for us, it’s a brilliant test against a good side and hopefully gets people along to watch because you’ll see some quality players.”
Meanwhile, Johnstone has re-signed for the capital club. The centre has amassed 43 appearances for Edinburgh since signing a full-time deal in 2017 and he becomes the third Edinburgh player this week to re-sign for the club following Pierre Schoeman and Chris Dean penning new deals.
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