Borderer Darcy Graham expected to be available for Edinburgh v Cardiff despite knee-knock
Borderer Darcy Graham is expected to be available for selection for Edinburgh’s United Rugby Championship fixture away to Cardiff this coming Saturday despite picking up a knock during their 43-0 win hosting Benetton last Friday.
The right-winger looked to have sustained a knee injury 25 minutes in but played on following three rounds of medical attention, scoring two of his side’s seven tries against the Italian outfit, on 39 minutes and 78, as they chalked up their first win of the new season.
The hosts’ other try-scorers at the capital’s Hive Stadium were left-winger Duhan van der Merwe on six minutes, openside flanker Dylan Richardson on 11 and 58, outside-centre Piers O’Conor on 65 and No 8 and captain Magnus Bradbury on 73, with fly-half Cammy Scott adding three conversions and replacement Ross Thompson another.
Graham’s tally of tries for his club of the last eight years is now up to 37 in 85 appearances, along with 31 in 47 for Scotland.
Allaying fears of another injury-enforced stint on the sidelines, the Hawick 28-year-old told Premier Sports: “I got through the game. I tweaked it early on but it seems to be all right.
“I just needed five minutes to run it off and then a bit of ice on it at half-time and it was as good as new.”
Head coach Sean Everitt agreed with that assessment, saying: “Darcy got a knee-on-knee in the game.
“At this stage, it doesn’t look like there’s any soft tissue damage, otherwise I’m sure the medics would have pulled him off.
“We’ll monitor him but he got through and scored a great try at the end, so he looks okay.
“He doesn’t like to come off. He is tough and he enjoys his rugby as well. It’s hard to get him off, but we listen to the medics.”
Graham was accompanied in Friday’s match-day squad by Melrose-born Charlie Shiels at scrum-half, former Melrose winger Ross McCann as a replacement for van der Merwe and Jedburgh’s Glen Young as a substitute for Liam McConnell at lock.
Everitt, 55, added: “It’s great to win at home in front of our fans.
“It’s been a frustrating few weeks. We’d done a lot of good but hadn’t come away with a win, so that had been frustrating but we were determined to get it right and that’s the nature of this group.”
Saturday’s kick-off in Wales is at 7.45pm.
Edinburgh go into that game sitting ninth in the table, on eight points from three fixtures, five places and eight points worse off than their hosts, having played one game fewer.