Edinburgh winger Darcy Graham will miss at least the first three months of the season including Scotland Nations Championship the November campaign after suffering a “strange” injury on the eve of the new campaign.
The 29-year-old flyer suffered a “biceps contusion” during Edinburgh’s pre-season friendly in Harlequins last Friday, his first game of the season.
A subsequent MRI scan revealed Graham had torn a biceps muscle in his arm and is likely to be sidelined until Christmas.
In such a time frame, he would miss Edinburgh’s first nine matches of the season, as well as Scotland’s games against New Zealand in November, Australia and Japan.
This means that Edinburgh will start their URC campaign in Ulster on Friday without their first choice three return, with Graham’s counterpart Scotland winger Duhan van der Merwe is out until mid-October with an ankle problem and Wes Goosen is out for several weeks with a hamstring injury.
One possible replacement, Scotland Under-20 winger Jack Brown, is also ruled out for 12 to 16 weeks after undergoing surgery on a torn knee ligament sustained in a pre-season game against Ealing Trailfinders.
Full-back/winger Harry Paterson, who was forced out with an ankle injury against Quins, also misses the trip to Belfast, with Malelili Satala regaining fitness and versatile new arrival Geordie Gwynn, mainly a centre, starting on the wings.
“We haven’t been very lucky with injuries, they’ve been pretty weird,” lamented head coach Sean Everitt, who starts the season with 16 players on the treatment table.
“Darcy suffered a biceps contusion in a crash at the weekend. He trained on Monday to then get an MRI report that he had torn his biceps.”
“It’s not good news for us and it’s not good news for him, especially with the autumn series. So he’ll be out for at least 12 weeks. Those things are freaky. Then look at (centre) Mosese (Tuipulotu) being knocked out on the field (against Quins) by his colleague in an accident. It was a team accident-
It is the latest in a string of injuries that have blighted Graham’s career in recent years since he damaged knee ligaments at the end of 2022, forcing the winger to miss both the 2023 and 2024 Six Nations, the latter with quad and groin problems that required surgery.
He got the call late British and Irish lions national team in Australia in 2025 only to suffer an ankle injury 10 minutes into his debut for the tourists.
After the start of this year’s Six Nations on the bench, the Borderer extended his Scotland try tally to 38 from 57 Tests with four tries in the last three Championship games, but will not get the chance to add to his international tally until 2027.
“It’s not an injury you can rush a player back from,” Everitt added. “Some players heal faster than others. (Božić) would be the worst case scenario for us and I have to prepare like that.
“But we’ve got depth in that position. Luckily we’ve got Duhan back in probably the next three weeks and Harry Paterson should be fit for next week, so we’re well covered there.”
In addition to the back three and the rested Pierre Schoeman, Everitt will also be without eight other Scotland internationals for the trip to Belfast, including Ewan Ashman’s whore, who needs at least another week to regain fitness after summer rehabilitation.
Back-rower Ben Muncaster, meanwhile, is awaiting the results of an MRI scan on an ankle injury sustained against Harlequins.
Four new additions will make their competitive debut on Friday, three in the back line.
Ex Northampton Fly-half James Grayson – “he brings a wealth of experience and steers the ship really well,” said Everitt – will form the backbone of the midfield with center Kienan Higgins, whose younger brother Riley is set to arrive in Edinburgh from Hurricanes in November. “Kienan is a 12 who plays the game and has the ability to get over the gain line and get contact,” Everitt said.
Gwynn, who arrived from Ealing Trailfinders, “brings extra pace out wide” on the left wing, while experienced Scotland prop Alec Hepburn starts on the loose.
Despite the plethora of injuries that will hamper his side in the URC’s opening games against Ulster, Stormers and the Zebras, Everitt – who brought in new assistant coaches for defence, attack and contact in the summer – believes he has a squad that should aim for at least a top eight play-off spot after last season’s 12th place finish.
“It’s not great, but at the same time it’s an opportunity to expand once again and use the experience these young men gained in the second part of last season,” he added.
“I believe what we have built into the club during pre-season has been beneficial for everyone in the squad. We used 47 players last year and they will all get more time for URC for sure. We are going down (Belfast) to win and have a good game, that is our aim.
“Even though you’re missing world-class players like Duhan and Darcy, it’s an opportunity for these youngsters to step up.
“If you look at the likes of Liam McConnell, Freddy Douglas and Magnus Bradbury, they were in the Scotland squad over the summer. Even though there have been changes and guys missing, we’ll still field a good team tomorrow night.”
Edinburgh XV (* = debut): 15. Piers O’Conor (21 caps), 14. Malelili Satala (9), 13. Matt Currie (72, co-capt), 12. Kienan Higgins*, 11. Geordie Gwynn*, 10. 9. James Grayson (4);* 1. Alec Hepburn*, 2. Harri Morris (17), 3. Paul Hill (35), 4. Callum Hunter-Hill (36), 5. Glen Young (70), 6. Liam McConnell (23), 7. Freddy Douglas (25), 8. Magnus Bradbury (151).
Subs: 16. Jerry Blyth-Lafferty (6), 17. James Whitcombe (7), 18. D’arcy Rae (35), 19. Euan McVie (3), 20. Tom Currie (8), 21. Conor McAlpine (4), 22. Cammy Scott (32), 23. Cammy Scott (32), 23.