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Edinburgh issue update on Van der Merwe and Graham injuries after big win
By Bryn Palmer
Edinburgh have brushed off concerns over Scotland wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham after both suffered injury scares a fortnight out from their opening autumn Test against the USA.
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Van der Merwe scored the first of Edinburgh’s seven tries in a thumping 43-0 URC win over Benetton on Friday but limped off four minutes into the second half.
Graham, meanwhile, appeared to be struggling after banging his knee as he went up to challenge for a high ball in the 25th minute.
He twice received treatment before gingerly re-entering the fray, only for a weaving run from deep to leave him needing more attention from the medics, who this time applied heavy strapping to his right knee.
The tenacious Borderer not only carried on but delivered a brilliant finish in the right corner just before half-time, receiving ice treatment on his knee at the interval.
Graham, who has 31 tries in 47 Tests, one behind Van der Merwe’s 32 (in 49 Tests) at the top of Scotland’s all-time list, re-emerged for the second half and ended the game on a high, scorching onto Ben Vellacott’s pass on halfway to race away for his second try of the night, and third of the new campaign.
“Darcy got a knee-on-knee in the game,” said Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt. “At this stage, it doesn’t look like there’s any soft tissue [damage], otherwise I’m sure the medics would have pulled him off. We’ll monitor him. But he got through and scored a great try at the end, so he looks OK.
“That’s the nature of the guy. He doesn’t like to come off. He is tough. He enjoys his rugby as well. He couldn’t wait to get on the field tonight to play at home. It’s hard to get him off, but we listen to the medics.”
Asked how his knee was feeling after the game, Graham told Premier Sports. “Obviously I tweaked it early on, but it seems to be alright. I just needed five minutes to run it off and then a bit of ice on it at half-time – good as new.”
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As for Van der Merwe, Everitt said the giant winger was withdrawn after suffering a bruised heel.
“We’ll take a look at that on Monday,” he said. “It’s not the first time we’ve had bruised heels. Darcy struggled with that last year as well. But we hope that he’ll be good to go next week [against Cardiff].
“Duhan scored a great try. It just shows when you get the ball in his hands with a bit of space, it’s really good. That was our plan today. If we could get the ball into the 15s, we’d have an opportunity against them.”
After agonising defeats in their opening two URC matches away at Zebre and Munster, either side of their first home game of the season against Ulster being postponed during Storm Amy, Edinburgh took plenty of home comfort from their return to Hive Stadium with a comfortable bonus-point victory.
Cammy Scott, making only his second start at 10 and his first for nearly two years, impressed in attack and defence before being forced off with an HIA after 47 minutes following a no-arms tackle from Malakai Fekitoa, which earned the Benetton centre a yellow card. Scott did not return and will be unavailable for next week’s trip to Cardiff.
Fellow half-back Charlie Shiel also impressed in a rare start at scrum-half, his first since January.
“Charlie got an opportunity and I thought his box-kicking was outstanding,” Everitt added. “He managed the game exceptionally well against a team that wants to strangle you.
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“Sometimes with all the ball that you receive via kicks, you tend to overplay. But we stuck to our plan. Cammy [Scott] was strong defensively with Fekitoa running at him most of the evening.
“He stood his ground exceptionally well and that is one of his strengths. He’s grown from year to year since I’ve been here. I’m just so happy that we could give him a start in the position that he enjoys.”