BEING named Scotland captain is no guarantee you will actually lead the team.
Just ask Kelly Brown, who was handed the job after the last Rugby World Cup and promptly shattered an ankle. Now the jinx has struck again with Grant Gilchrist breaking his arm four days after he was announced in the post and promptly being ruled out of the Autumn Ttests.
He was one of the victims in a remarkable night for Edinburgh following their 25-17 triumph over Lyon at Murrayfield, prompting Scotland head coach Vern Cotter to express his own disappointment.
Cotter said: "This is really disappointing news for Grant, who's been a fine player and leader for his club this season and was set to continue that role for Scotland this autumn.
"Despite being unable to play, he will still join and be part of the squad in camp and feature heavily in our preparations for the viagogo Autumn Tests." That commendation underlines the part Gilchrist has played in Edinburgh now occupying pole position in their European Challenge Cup pool despite an injury run that is unprecedented for head coach Alan Solomons in his 37 years coaching all round the world.
During the days leading up to the match and the first half hour of play, they lost eight of the side he had originally selected, and it could get worse with Solomons revealing the injury toll also extended to some who finished the game, with Anton Bressler, Gilchrist's lock partner, looking the most serious.
The full extent of the damage will not be known until tomorrow when the medical assessments will have been completed, but with 12 players already on the injury list before the match, it is clear they are unlikely to have enough fit players for Friday's encounter with the PRO12 champions in Dublin without going outside the main squad. Even with David Denton making his comeback from five months out injured, the back row is particularly short of manpower.
Despite the carnage, with a small fleet of ambulances arriving to carry players off to hospital, they still put Lyon to the sword. It was their second victory in successive matches against French opposition, and that, said Solomons, spoke volumes about the spirit and morale of the squad.
For Tom Heathcote, the fly- half whose 20-point contribution earned him the man-of-the-match award, it was a vital demonstration of the club's cohesion and his personal talents. The battle for the Scotland spot is not just a two-way contest between the Glasgow pair Duncan Weir and Finn Russell.
He said: "It's been a goal coming to Edinburgh to first get into the team and play as well as I can and then use it to get back into the international set-up. It was difficult for a while being the chief decision-maker in a team that was struggling over a period of three of four games. As a team we needed to build that confidence. This week has been about belief and knowing we could play these top French sides and win."
On the downside, spare a thought for Hamish Watson, the flanker who started the game looking forward to his first experience with the Scotland squad when it assembles for training this evening, and finished it as one of the more seriously injured in hospital with a suspected broken jaw. He was joined there by Roddy Grant - suspected fracture of the cheek bone - leaving Denton and Tomas Leonardi as the only fit back rows in the main squad.
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