Duhan van der Merwe will get another chance to get in shape and make a claim Scotland after being released to play in URC Edinburgh’s final game before the November international against Benetton on Saturday.
The giant winger was ruled out with a dislocated finger just 18 minutes after returning from an ankle problem last Friday in their 31-10 home win over the Lions.
But he has been named in the Scotland squad for November Nations Championship block despite a lack of game time, Van der Merwe will be hoping for a more productive outing at the Stadio Monigo, a week before they face Scotland New Zealand in the first of their three matches at Murrayfield next month, with Australia and Japan to follow.
“Looks good,” he reported Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt. “He trained with Scotland earlier in the week, just like the rest of the internationals, and he’ll be with us today. He’ll be up to speed very quickly and he’s excited to get another chance. It didn’t take long on Friday night.”
Another wing Darcy Graham, who missed Lions fixture with tight calves, Scotland did not post although they have managed one 60-minute outing so far this season against Toulon October 16.
Everitt revealed that Graham “hasn’t quite recovered” from a calf strain enough for Edinburgh to consider him, but should be ready if Scotland require it against All black people.
“He’s in Scotland at the moment so it’s best for him with the Test matches coming up, if he’s selected, he doesn’t play this week,” Everitt said. “We have lads who are in form at our club at the moment and we are ready to support them.”
The other player released by Scotland is winger Liam McConnell, suggesting the 22-year-old tyro may not be in Gregor Townsend’s mind for a starting spot against New Zealand despite an impressive start to the season.
“It’s great for us to have Liam back,” Everitt said. He rested a couple of weeks ago and is fit right now. He’s really massive for us in the line-up, and he’s certainly been one of the loose forwards in Scotland.”
Prop Alec Hepburn returns to freedom after missing the last three games with concussion, while Harris Morris comes off the bench to start at scrum while Pierre Schoeman and scrum Ewan Ashman are both retained by Scotland ahead of the All Blacks date.
Flanker Freddy Douglas is also back at openside after missing the Lions match with concussion.
Douglas, who tops the URC’s turnover charts with eight in three games so far, considered himself unlucky – like No 8 and captain Magnus Bradbury – to miss out on a place in Scotland’s Nations Championship squad.
There was also no place for veteran Grant Gilchrist or emerging youngsters such as prop Ollie Blyth-Lafferty and scrum-half Hector Patterson, with just five Edinburgh players making up Townsend’s 37-man party.
But Everitt urged those left out to maintain their recent high standards with injuries likely to create new opportunities as the international framework opens up.
“They are fine, they know where they are and they know there is growth in their game and I’m sure the Scotland coaches have explained to them what is expected of them,” he said.
“Freddy (Douglas) is a guy who just does his job very well on a day-to-day basis and I’m sure he wants to put in a good performance because there will be opportunities in November. The nature of the game is that there will be injuries and these guys who have come back have an opportunity to put their hand up for selection in November.
“Maggie (Bradbury) is a fighter and he’s been in this position before. He’s played well for us. Obviously there’s a difference of opinion about what’s needed in international rugby and that’s fine. I’m sure they’ve put that across to him.
“For him it’s about continuing the good form he’s got. Sometimes the player playing is in a better situation than the player holding the bags at Oriam (Scotland’s training base).”
The other side means Edinburgh, surprise early leaders of the URC, have a stronger hand to play as they look to make history with a fifth consecutive win since the start of the season, after equaling their previous best start in 2015-16 when they won their first four games in the old Pro12.
“I’m delighted that they’re all available and it allows us to have some continuity and makes training and preparation easier,” Everitt said. “But I think the message to them is that they have opportunities and they have to keep knocking on the door.
“It’s also up to the youngsters to understand where they are and how many games they’ve played at the top level. I’m talking about the EPCR and the Champions Cup as well as the URC.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to break through as a youngster because experience at international level counts for a lot. Sometimes people will look at form and say, in the short term, this player is better than that player. But at the end of the day, you have to perform on the top stage and you’ll always go for experience.”
Other changes to the Edinburgh bench see Callum Hunter-Hill take over from Marshall Sykes as second-row cover, Ross Thompson, who has yet to feature this season, replaces Cammy Scott and hooker Jerry Blyth-Lafferty joins the replacements.
Edinburgh won 15-14 on their last visit to Treviso in early January after defeats at the Stadio Monigo in the four previous URC seasons. Wayne Pivac’s side sit 15th in the table after an opening draw with the Dragons with three narrow defeats, including last week’s 24-20 defeat at home to Glasgow.
“I thought they were unlucky to lose that game,” Everitt added. “They were ahead until the last few minutes, so it’s a good test for us and our resilience away from home. And part of our growth is doing better when we’re not at home. It’s a good test for us and our resilience away from home.”
“Going into the first game against Ulster, we were confident as a group that we could pull off these wins away from home. I’m really pleased. I wouldn’t have predicted four out of four, but (fifth) is certainly within our reach.”
“We’ve got a good mix of youth and experience. What’s great for us at the moment is the soul of our team, the guys who are here training every day and maybe don’t get those call-ups in Scotland, and the youngsters coming through, putting their hands up. They’re making the selection table extremely difficult for us and that’s going great for us.”
Edinburgh XV v Benetton: 15 Piers O’Connor; 14 Geordie Gwynn, 13 Matt Currie (co-captain), 12 Mosese Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe; 10 James Grayson, 9 Hector Patterson; 1 Alec Hepburn, 2 Harris Morris, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 4 Glen Young, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Liam McConnell, 7 Freddy Douglas, 8 Magnus Bradbury (co-captain).
Replacements: 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 Jamie Stewart, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Tom Currie, 21 Conor McAlpine, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Harry Paterson.
