“Darcy aggravated an old injury and he’s also available for November,” continued Everitt.  “We don’t want to risk him now with the games that they have in November. Those are really important for Scotland. On top of that, it’s a long season and we’ve got 11 weeks in a row to contend with heading into January. So, I’d rather him be fit, especially with what he’s gone through as well.”

“He’s had an old MCL repair and he’s just aggravated that,” Everitt explained after being pushed on the nature of Graham’s injury. “But, like I said, he will be available in November.”

Losing such a potent and experienced wing pairing for this last Edinburgh game in over a month is a tough break – especially as the team will be deeperate to build on last weekend’s slick attacking play against Benetton – but Everitt was understandably keen to focus instead on the value the replacements can add to his team.

Lewis Wells was a later bloomer, who originally came through Linlithgow, Edinburgh Accies then Heriot’s in Super6, before getting his chance with the Edinburgh on a pro-academy contract when aged 21 ahead of the 2024-25 season. Meanwhile, Ross McCann started his rugby journey with Royal High School in the capital (alongside Edinburgh club-mate Charlie Shiel), and became the first ever player interviewed by The Offside Line back in September 2016 as he rose to prominence scoring tries for fun for Melrose in the Premiership. He played every minute of Scotland U20s’ 2017 Junior World Cup campaign in Georgia as his side reached a highest ever fifth place finish, and went on to represent Scotland and TeamGB at sevens, before joining Edinburgh full-time on a two-year contract last summer.

“I think every time Liam [Wells] has played in the URC or the EPCR he’s done exceptionally well,” said Everitt. “Unfortunately, the injuries have got the better of him over the last 12 months, but it was an easy switch for him to come straight in for Duhan.

“He’s comfortable on the left wing. I think the last game that he played on the left wing it was against Scarlets and he was really good, so it’s a great opportunity for him to put his hand up. He’s a massive player. A big, well-built, strong man, and he adds speed to that as well. He’s good at high-ball regain and he’s shown that in the pre-season warm-up games. So, I’m very happy to give him a start.

“And I think if you look at Ross McCann and how well he played when he came on last week … for me it’s a good opportunity for Ross.”

The only other change to the starting XV is in the second-row where Marshall Sykes returns from a rest week to partner Grant Gilchrist, with Sam Skinner dropping out of the squad altogether, while Callum Hunter-Hill comes on to the bench as boiler-house cover meaning he is set for his first  involvement since rejoining the club during the summer.

Luke Crosbie also joins the replacements after recovering from a hamstring issue, taking the place of Freddy Douglas, and Boan Venter switches in as loose-head cover meaning James Whitcombe misses out.

Everitt has stuck with the same half-backs – Cammy Scott and Shiel – as last week, which recognises the attacking fluidity they managed to generate. “I think everyone deserves to have two starts and that’s part of my policy unless things don’t go the way I thought they would,” said the coach. “I thought Cammy and Charlie did really well on Friday night and managed the game well. Unfortunately Cammy had to leave the field, but he’s passed his HIA two and three and we’ll look to continue with that combination,”

“The guys are upbeat for this game,” he added. “We’ve had success over Cardiff the last two years ago when we’ve gone down there. They’re a team that kicks a lot and they’ve got reward for it. They’ve had a fantastic start to the season. So there’s going to be a challenge for us, but one that we certainly are up for.”

 

Edinburgh (v Cardiff @ Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday, 7.45pm kick-off BST – live on Premier Sports): W Goosen; R McCann, P O’Conor, J Lang, L Wells; C Scott, C Shiel; P Schoeman, E Ashman, D Rae, M Sykes, G Gilchrist, L McConnell, D Richardson, M Bradbury ©. Replacements: P Harrison, B Venter, P Hill, C Hunter-Hill, L Crosbie, B Vellacott, R Thompson, M Davidson.

Unavailable: Darcy Graham (knee), Duhan van der Merwe (heel), Ben Muncaster (ankle), Harry Paterson (concussion), Charlie McCaig (knee), Rhys Litterick (achilles), Matt Currie (head), Rob Carmichael (wrist), Connor Boyle (knee), Mosese Tuipulotu (knee).