Hector Patterson will be given the chance to feature for Edinburgh next season. Image: © Craig Watson –
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SEAN EVERITT says Edinburgh have no plans to replace Ali Price with another experienced scrum-half and will instead rely on younger players already on the books.
The club announced this week that both Price and Dave Cherry would move on in the summer, with Cherry signing for Vannes and Price also expected to head to France to sign for Montpellier.
Cherry has effectively been replaced by Dylan Richardson who will make the switch to the capital to compete with Ewan Ashman for the No.2 jersey next season.
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But there are no similar plans to recruit another scrum-half to replace Price, with Everitt revealing Edinburgh will look to promote from within to work in tandem with Ben Vellacott next year.
Asked if he was in the market for another scrum-half, the head coach replied: “Not at this stage. We’re happy with the youngsters that are coming through. I think our focus has to be on our pathway system.
“We’ve got a very good scrum half, Conor McAlpine, who was unfortunate with injuries when he was in his under-18 and under-19 years.
“He’s come on in leaps and bounds and played really well for the under-20s when he’s had the opportunity, as well as for our A-team.
“Then we’ve got a young Hector Patterson who unfortunately has injuries this year but has played really well when he got that opportunity in the second half for Scotland under-20s in the Six Nations.
“So we would like to back them. And on top of that, Ben Vellacott is playing his best rugby at the moment. Then we’ve got the likes of Charlie Shiel as a senior [scrum-half] with Ben.”
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Glasgow head coach Franco Smith had revealed last week that one of the reasons for Henco Venter’s summer departure was that “from Scottish Rugby’s side there’s a movement in the direction of having less foreigners”.
But Everitt says he has not been steered too far down the same road.
He added: “I think we’ve always been good with how we’ve recruited foreigners into Edinburgh and we wouldn’t want to go away from that.
“If you look at the signing of Paul Hill, he’s a guy that stands in when we lose experience in our front row.
“That’s strategy for us and that’s key on how we recruit. If we have players within the Scottish system that are good enough, then we’d like to see them come through the system and develop.
“But it’s important for us to be able to compete and be at our best when guys are away on international duty.
“I think there has to be strategy involved in how we do it. But at the same time, we also know that it’s important for the franchise to do as well as they can in the competition. So, how you plan it is vitally important.”
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