RICHARD COCKERILL will not arrive in Edinburgh from Toulon for several more weeks, but the incoming head coach is making sure he can hit the ground running by having his say in selection issues during the struggling side’s final few matches of this wretched campaign.
George Turner, who has been a bit-part player since making his debut for the club off the bench three seasons ago, has been handed his first ever start in tonight's clash against the Dragons at Myreside – with acting head coach Duncan Hodge explaining that this selection is at the behest of Cockerill, who is clearly keen to see what the 24-year-old hooker is made of.
Hodge has been at pains to stress in recent months that while Cockerill has been in regular contact, he has not had an active involvement in team selection and tactics – but that seems to have changed this week.
With Edinburgh currently caught up in a nine match losing slump, there really is no good reason for not tinkering with the side in this way in order to ensure that the new man in charge can have a full understanding of what he is dealing before his preparation for next season begins in earnest.
"George had a couple of games for us during the Six Nations, but for someone who is a hugely talented player he hasn't had much of an opportunity. There's a bit of thinking about things going forward and we'll see how he goes,” said Hodge.
“Speaking to Richard, he's seen most of the squad but George is one of the guys he has not seen. George maybe feels a bit hard done by because he's not had much game time. He's got a great skill-set so it will be good to see him play tomorrow.”
"There's a bit of luck and a bit of coincidence but basically we've had four hookers who have not been injured all year – you can guarantee next year that will be different. And with hooker, like nines and tens, they are very specialist positions, so if there are no injuries you can struggle to get game time,” Hodge added.
Meanwhile, John Hardie has been named on the bench, meaning he is set to play his first game since injuring his knee whilst playing for Scotland against Wales at the end of February.
"It's a boost. It will be good to seem him play. We know what he's about, he's a good player and will hopefully get some decent game time. He has had a big chunk of time out so it would have been a big ask for him to start,” said Hodge.
The open-side flanker is out of contract at the end of the season and the fact that he has not re-signed at the club yet would seem to indicate that he will be playing somewhere else next season – although Hodge pleaded ignorance on this subject yesterday.
It has been a long, miserable season for Edinburgh, but the end is in sight. This is their penultimate match, with a visit west to take on Glasgow Warriors the following week bringing down the curtain on their campaign.
Edinburgh currently sit ninth in the table and while they can’t catch eighth placed Connacht, a loss tonight would see them fall behind the Dragons into tenth place.
“There’s an edge to this game for a lot of reasons. One – we are playing at home; two – we want to get off this losing streak; and three – they are sitting right next to us,” agreed Hodge.
“The Dragon showed two weekends ago against Scarlets (when they lost narrowly) that they are a good side with good players. They are always tricky to play against, there is some areas of the game you have to be well aware of, but we need to focus on ourselves and get ourselves right,” he added.
Edinburgh team to play the Dragons at Myreside (Friday 28 April, kick-off 7.35pm. Live on BBC ALBA)
Backs. G Bryce, D Hoyland, C Dean, J Rasolea, R Scholes, J Tovey, N Fowles. Forwards. A Dell, G Turner, S Berghan, G Gilchrist (capt), B Toolis, V Mata, H Watson, C du Preez, Replacements: R Ford, M McCallum, K Bryce, F McKenzie, J Hardie, S Hidalgo-Clyne, D Weir, B Kinghorn
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