Darcy Graham should not give up hope that he can make the Lions tour this summer, says Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt.
Image: © Craig Watson –
www.craigwatson.co.uk 
EDINBURGH head coach Sean Everitt has backed winger Darcy Graham to bounce back from the disappointment of being omitted from the initial British & Irish Lions touring squad for Australia this summer, which was announced yesterday afternoon.
As he named Graham in his starting XV for tomorrow night’s URC round 17 clash against Connacht in Galway, Everitt reasoned that the fleet-footed winger will be desperate to produce top level performances during the remainder of the domestic season so as to keep himself in the frame should a late call-up to the squad be required.
Three of the six back-three players selected by Lions head coach Andy Farrell for the Australia trip are currently sidelined through injury. Graham’s Edinburgh and Scotland team-mate Duhan van der Merwe recently had an operation on his ankle and is racing to be back in time for the URC play-offs (should Edinburgh get that far), another Scot in Blair Kinghorn has a knee injury picked up playing for Toulouse against Castres two weekends ago and has an unspecified return date, while it was reported on Tuesday that Irish winger Mack Hansen has been sidelined for “approximately five weeks” with an ankle injury.
Lions squad announcement: eight Scots selected for Australian expedition
Relief and delight for Sione Tuipulotu after fearing injury had wrecked his Lions chance
While none of those players would have been selected if Farrell wasn’t confident that they will recover in time for the tour, it does highlight the attritional nature of professional rugby and the likelihood that replacements will be required at some point over the summer.
Meanwhile, flanker Jamie Ritchie – another disappointed Lions hopeful – misses this weekend’s trip to Galway with a concussion, and Pierre Schoeman – who did make the cut – starts at loose-head prop.
“It was a great day for the club and for those individuals,” said Everitt, reflecting on the selection of fellow ‘Jock-Boks’ van der Merwe and Schoeman. “”Duhan’s fortunate now that he’s on his second tour, it’s well deserved. He had a great Six Nations again and Pierre has just been waiting his time. It’s great for a guy like that, who’s made quite a lot of sacrifices in his personal life to achieve his goal of making the Lions.
“So, a happy day for everyone and obviously disappointing for some too, but that’s how rugby goes.
“But the door’s not closed, there’s a lot of rugby to be played between now and the Lions trip and more than likely there’ll be one or two guys that might drop out because of injuries and then the door opens.
“So, it’s good for us that there are a couple of spots open in the Lions group and there’s all to play for, for the individuals.”
Asked specifically about Graham’s frame of mind following the disappointment of not being selected, Everitt said: “He’s obviously disappointed as he would be because in the opportunities that he got in the Six Nations, he did really well, and he’s been in good form in the URC and in the European games as well.
“So, it is disappointing for a guy like that. I did chat to him and tell him that he’s young enough to make the next one, [and] he did have tongue-in-cheek and asked if he could play in the Melrose Sevens. That’s the nature of the guy.
“He’s a fighter and we’ve seen that on the rugby pitch. It wasn’t an easy year for him with the injuries that he had and he came back flying. That’s the type of guy he is. The character that you see on the field is the character that you have off the field. A great guy to have around the group and he’ll be back fighting for a place and hoping that an opportunity arises in the near future.
“You don’t know who they’re going to select next. There’s certain areas within that squad that are thin. There could be more than just one guy putting his hands up. Certainly, Jamie [Ritchie] and Darcy and if you look in the lock department, a guy like Gilco [Grant Gilchrist], a couple of good performances there and there’s an injury that could look at bringing one of them in.
“It’s important for them as individuals. Rugby’s full of disappointments and obviously, celebrations as well. I suppose you’ve got to rough with the smooth, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to show resilience and you’ve got to move on and keep on fighting.”
Everitt has made four changes to the starting XV from last weekend’s EPCR Challenge Cup defeat to Bath. Mosese Tuipulotu – who scored a try as a replacement last time out – replaces the benched James Lang in midfield, teenager Jack Brown returns on the wing in place of the concussed Harry Paterson, Ben Muncaster replaces the concussed Ritchie at blindside flanker, and Marshall Sykes takes over from the rested Gilchirst in the second-row.
On the bench, Liam McConnell is preferred to Freddy Douglas as back-row cover, with Everitt perhaps taking the view that he doesn’t need two out-and-out open-sides in his match-day when Muncaster can also cover No 7 when required.
“I’d like to see a good performance again,” said Everitt. “I think the results don’t reflect our performances that we’ve put in over the last couple of weeks. If you look back at the Sharks game and at Bath, the effort, the work and energy the guys have put in has been admirable. We’d look for the same there.
“What I’m looking for this week is for more accuracy in what we’re good at. We weren’t accurate in our attack and we allowed Bath to disrupt us at the breakdown, which was part of their plan and well done to them. We know that if we play well as a group, we can get the result and that’s what’s needed.”
Edinburgh are currently 10th in the URC table going into this penultimate round of regular season matches, which is two points adrift of the top eight finish they need to qualify for the play-offs and the Champions Cup next season. Realistically, they need to target bonus point wins from both this weekend’s game and next Friday’s home match against Ulster, then hope that two out of Munster, Benetton, Scarlets, Stormers and Cardiff drop points to make the top eight (they’d need Stormers and Cardiff to lose both their remaining games).
The odds are stacked against them, but Everitt insisted that – like Graham and his Lions dream – Edinburgh won’t give up until that window of opportunity is shut and shuttered.
“Yes, the result is vitally important tomorrow,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a challenge playing in Galway. The guys have been in knockout rugby now. The boys took a lot of confidence out of that win against Munster [in Cork at the end of February] and we’ve had a good week of preparation. We’ve got over the Bath game and the guys are ready to go.
“Connacht are always a tough team to face at home; they’re passionate and play with a lot of energy in front of their own crowd. But we can take a lot of confidence from our European run and our recent URC form into this match. We know what we’re capable of when we play to our potential.”
Edinburgh Rugby (versus Connact @ Dexcom Stadium (formerly the Sportrsground) in Galway on Saturday @ 7.35pm – live on Premier Sports): W Goosen; D Graham, M Currie, M Tuipulotu, J Brown; R Thompson, A Price; P Schoeman, E Ashman, D Rae, S Skinner, M Sykes, B Muncaster, H Watson, M Bradbury ©. Subs: P Harrison, B Venter, J Sebastian, G Young, L McConnell, C Shiel, B Healy, J Lang.
Unavailable for Edinburgh: Emiliano Boffellli (hamstring), Connor Boyle (knee), Robert Carmichael (wrist), Dave Cherry (knee), Luke Crosbie (pec), Tom Dodd (shoulder), Jamie Hodgson (tricep), Paul Hill (back), Ross McCann (foot), Harry Paterson (concussion), Jamie Ritchie (concussion),Cammy Scott (groin), Harry Paterson (concussion), Duhan van der Merwe (ankle), Ben Vellacott (foot).
Our Edinburgh-based experts advise both individuals and businesses across a range of sectors, providing accountancy, audit and assurance, business advisory, tax and VAT services. Founded in 1855, Saffery is the 15th largest accountancy firm in the UK by turnover and has had a presence in Edinburgh for over 30 years. Website: www.saffery.com
“This is not the final destination, I have a long road to climb” – Pierre Schoeman