AT the start of the season, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne was probably the third choice of the three scrum halves at Edinburgh.
Five weeks ago, not much had changed, but it shows how quickly fortunes can be made that in that brief time he has leapt to number one at the club and there are even a few folk whispering it may not be too soon for Vern Cotter to think about adding the 21-year-old to the training squad ahead of the RBS Six Nations Championship.
With the squad coming out next week, this weekend would be a perfect time for him to produce another classy performance, just as he did last week when he helped guide his side to victory in atrocious condition in Connacht with an ice-calm 50-metre penalty in a gusting gale-force wind10 minutes from time the score that split the sides at the end.
If he does, it could be the key to putting Edinburgh into the quarter finals of the European Challenge Cup, where they are currently one of two unbeaten sides. Hidalgo-Clyne says that is all he is thinking about at the moment. "I feel I'm playing well at the moment, so I'm just hoping to keep my form, and keep progressing and improving as a scrum-half," he said.
"I think my game has developed massively these last four or five weeks - as a player I'm definitely a lot more confident and calmer on the pitch. I know now how things run in the squad now, so it has been good. When I started out this season I wasn't that experienced a scrum-half, and I am learning with every game.
"I am definitely more composed now. It is just a case of not trying to do everything quickly, like I was at the start. It's a case of biding my time and picking my moment, so when a gap opens up hopefully I can take the chance. But really, I've got to keep calm and make sure everyone feels controlled around me."
The real breakthrough for Hidalgo-Clyne came last month when he was one of those sent onto the field for the final quarter of the home game against London Welsh with orders to rescue a team that was playing badly and losing to a team they had been expecting to beat easily. They pulled off the feat, and he has never looked back with his goalkicking adding an extra weapon.
"I find it a real confidence booster if I get one through the sticks early on," he said. "It was something I really enjoyed throughout school, then I stopped it for a few years when I was playing sevens, but now I'm really glad I'm getting to do it again. I thrive on confidence so I am always looking to get into the game early - and kicking goals often helps me do that. At the moment I am loving it - this is the best rugby I have played."
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