FOR the last two campaigns, catastrophic end-of-season collapses have demolished Edinburgh's hopes of making a splash in the Guinness PRO12 and Europe. Now, one of the new faces at the club reckons the arrival of fresh blood has given the club the resources to handle the run-in.
Rory Scholes makes no bones about it – he is there to further his own ambitions to settle in as the full back for Ireland over the next generation, but if he does, he knows he will be also driving Edinburgh towards the heights. He wins by making sure the club wins.
He left Ulster after making 26 appearances for the province for one reason – they played him on the wing and he wants to play full back, the position he grew up in, occupied for club and country at age-grade and A-team levels but never got to play for the province.
"I spoke to Alan Solomons [the Edinburgh head coach] a lot," he said. "He gave me the opportunity to play at full back. That is something I want to do, it is the position I enjoy most. I can play pretty well there but wasn’t getting the opportunity, so that was a big factor. I want to get regular game time. At my age I need to play at the highest level to get better.
"I want to expose myself to at least two years there so I can show I can play it. I played all my under age stuff at Under15, then I played there until under-20 before I moved to the wing. When I got through in the Ulster set up, it was more on the wing but when I was playing club or schools rugby it was at full-back."
He faces stiff competition if he is to win the spot and knows it. Blair Kinghorn won the berth last season and made so good of a go of it that the club was willing to let Greig Tonks leave for London Irish, confident that they have enough cover. Solomons then bolstered his resources by adding Glenn Bryce from Glasgow as cover before he went back to the province he coached more than a decade ago and picked up Scholes.
Scholes is going to get chances. Kinghorn is still only 19 and apart from needing time off for his Scotland Under 20s duties needs to be nurtured through the season with a fair amount of care. Bryce is 25 and proved at Glasgow that he is a steady, secure player but does not have the flair to challenge at a level up from pro-club rugby.
That leaves a position for Scholes, who is quick enough to have look at home on the wing and can also kick, both out of hand and, if necessary, off the tee. "It is going to be tough but I back myself," he said. "Those two boys are brilliant, but there will be rotation and injuries. Whenever I get the chance to play I have to play well and stay in the team."
With Dunan Hodge having had a chance in preseason to stamp his authority on the side as backs coach, there must be an emphasis this season on developing the back play so that they can start to convert more of the territory and possession being won by their formidable pack into points and wins.
"We are looking at play-off places," said Scholes. "We are looking to push on after the Six Nations. Maybe the squad dropped off from there last season but now there is more strength in depth.
"Edinburgh’s attack has evolved under Duncan Hodge and this will be his first full season. He has been brilliant since I got here and the stuff he has put in place has really worked. The attack shape and level are up there and hopefully I can help the attack improve."
He is certainly right in his analysis of last season's problems. At the end of January, Edinburgh had played 12 matches and won eight to sit third in the PRO12. They went on to win only three of the remaining 10, picking up only 14 points on the way, and dropped six places to finish ninth, one spot down on both the previous two seasons.
There are a number of reasons for the slump but one that Solomons was always at pains to point out was the number of injuries they had picked up through the season.
That is why he needs depth in key roles like full back, and Scholes is one of them from a summer of recruitment that has focussed heavily on reviving the backs – other newcomers include Alex Northam, the Australian sevens specialist and wing; Solomoni ‘Junior’ Rasolea, another Wallaby at centre; Sasa Tolifau, a Samoan utility back and Duncan Weir, the Scotland cap aiming to revive his international ambitions.
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