Matt Mustchin may be the latest Scotland contender to be ruled out of the RBS 6 Nations if he has to undergo surgery on the ankle he damaged last weekend.
Matt Mustchin may be the latest Scotland contender to be ruled out of the RBS 6 Nations if he has to undergo surgery on the ankle he damaged last weekend.
The New Zealand-born lock's problem was described yesterday by Andy Robinson, Edinburgh's head coach, as "serious" and he will have a further check up on Monday. "At that point we will have to make a decision on it," Robinson continued.
Mustchin apparently exacerbated a long-standing problem when he landed on a team-mate's boot. Originally, he was to have had it operated on last summer but then he was called into the Scotland squad for the tour of Argentina where he won his first caps.
He subsequently soldiered on with the problem this season because he wanted to consolidate his place in the national squad during the autumn Tests. He may now be about to pay a high price.
Alan MacDonald, the flanker, has been ruled out this week because, while he was not deemed to be concussed when he went off with a head injury at Firhill, he is still being rested. The injuries account for two of fivechanges to the Edinburgh line-up.
Roddy Grant, born in Botswana to Scottish parents and a descendant of a famous Scottish rugby family, the Burrells of Galashiels, makes his debut in the back row, where Simon Cross is recalled in place of Scott Newlands.
Craig Hamilton returns for Mustchin, while in the backs Andrew Turnbull replaces the injured Mark Robertson and John Houston comes in at centre for Nick De Luca, who is left out for the first time this season.
It was made clear that De Luca is not being rested but has been dropped, but Rob Moffat, the backs coach, admits that over-use of some players - largely enforced by injuries - this season could be seen as abusing them.
That is in part a result of the numbers game, and he and Robinson consequently admitted they would be interested in re-signing Rob Dewey, Ulster's former Edinburgh centre who is in the Irish province's squad for tomorrow's match. Glasgow Warriors are also thought to be keen to recruit him.
Also returning to Murrayfield tomorrow is Matt Williams, Ulster's coach, and Ally Hogg, one of the few remaining ever-present players in Edinburgh's team this season, paid tribute to the man who gave him his first Scotland cap.
The 25-year-old, who should make his 50th Test appearance for his country this season, noted that his international career began with an identical record to that of the man sacked in 2005 after winning just three of 17 Tests.
Dropped for Scotland's most recent Test against Canada in November, the Edinburgh back-row man joked of Williams: "Get him back in . . . "
Hogg acknowledged that Williams did not have his problems to seek by the time he left, but said that he and others had reason to be grateful to the Australian.
"Latterly, a lot of people were struggling with him but I can't complain," said Hogg. "He picked me for every game. I was pretty fortunate. He put a lot of faith in me and let me develop. I would not be in the position I am in now if he had not taken a gamble on me. He helped speed up my development.
"It's the same for Chris Cusiter and Dan Parks. A lot of those playing now got their first caps under him. You could say that some of them may have been a bit too early, but that was just something that happened at the time and to be honest that was in the past and not relevant today. He is just the coach of Ulster and that is that. I am sure I'll shake his hand and have a chat with him afterwards."
