GRANT Gilchrist, the Edinburgh and Scotland lock, has agreed a one-year contract extension with the capital club, ending speculation that he was set to move to England or France. The 25-year-old is currently making his way back from injury, having broken an arm in February, but is confident he will be fit enough to take a full part in pre-season training this summer.
“I’m delighted to be staying and really excited about next season,” Gilchrist said yesterday in a press release. “This is the club I have grown up with. I came through the academy here and I’ve now been part of the first team for over five years. I care a lot about the club and I really believe we’ve got the players and the culture at the club to have prolonged success.”
Gilchrist, who is now under contract until the summer of 2017, has been dogged by injury since being named as Scotland captain by the then new head coach, Vern Cotter, just before the 2014 Autumn Tests. He was ruled out of that series of matches by a broken arm sustained while playing for Edinburgh, then after a long recovery picked up a groin injury at last year’s Rugby World Cup. It was while making his comeback for Edinburgh earlier this year that he again suffered a broken arm.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh have the ideal chance to boost their hopes of a top-six finish in the PRO12 tonight when they take on second-bottom Zebre at Murrayfield. Alan Solomons’ team actually lost to the Italians back in October, but they were without several key players then.
A bonus-point win will be enough to take Edinburgh into the upper half of the table, albeit perhaps only until Glasgow, currently sixth, play Treviso tomorrow evening. But Solomons has told his players that patience will be paramount, and that they must secure the victory before they think about winning big.
Jason Tovey, the stand-off who joined Edinburgh last week on loan from the Dragons, will make his debut after being barred from playing against his parent club in last weekend’s win for Edinburgh in Wales. Tovey will play at 10 alongside Sean Kennedy, who has been promoted to the starting 15 in place of Scotland international scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne.
Tovey was recruited quickly to fill the gap left by Greig Tonks, who has joined London Irish. Alan Solomons, the Edinburgh coach, insisted that he had never thought of standing in Tonks’ way, no matter that it would have been a lot simpler to retain the player until the end of the season.
“Greig had an opportunity at London Irish, but he had to take it immediately, and I’ve never stood in the way of any player,” Solomons said yesterday. “David Denton was the same - he had an opportunity to join Bath and I’m not going to stand in his way.
“So we needed to replace him, and Jason was the ideal replacement. He is a left-sided player who can play 10 and 15 and can goal-kick.”
Lock forward Mike Coman returns to captain the side. Prop Allan Dell and centre Will Helu are back on the bench, while openside John Hardie is still absent with neck and groin injuries but should return to action soon.
The Zebre line-up includes winger Leonardo Sarto, who is on his way to Glasgow next season. Several of Sarto’s colleagues from the Italian international team will also feature, including stand-off Kelly Haimona and second rows Marco Bortolami and Quintin Geldenhuys, the captain.
Edinburgh (v Zebre at Murrayfield, tonight, 7.35pm): B Kinghorn; D Hoyland, M Allen, P Burleigh, T Brown; J Tovey, S Kennedy; A Dickinson, R Ford, W Nel, A Bresler, B Toolis, M Coman, H Watson, C du Preez. Substitutes: S McInally, A Dell, J Andress, A Toolis, M Bradbury, S Hidalgo-Clyne, C Dean, W Helu.
Zebre: K van Zyl; U Beyers, T Boni, M Pratichetti, L Sarto; K Haimona, G Palazzanni; A Lovotti, O Fabiani, D Chistolini, Q Geldenhuys, M Bortolami, J Cook, F Ruzza, J Meyer. Substitutes: B Postiglioni, G Roan, P Ceccarelli, G Koegelenberg, E Caffini, L Burgess, C Canna, G Bisegni.
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