Luckless Scotland wing Darcy Graham to miss rest of the season
Edinburgh have confirmed Scotland wing Darcy Graham will undergo surgery on a groin injury next week and is likely to miss the rest of the season.
It is the latest setback for the 26-year-old, who had already been ruled out of the Six Nations Championship for the second straight season with his latest issue.
Graham returned to training recently after recovering from a quadriceps injury and had hoped to prove his fitness in time to feature for Scotland against England last Saturday.
But he then picked up a groin problem and after receiving specialist advice from a surgeon this week, has now been booked in for an operation.
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt confirmed Graham was facing a “three-to-four month” absence.
The club’s last regular-season fixture in the United Rugby Championship is on 1 June, three months from now, although the wing could potentially still feature in the current campaign if Edinburgh were to progress to the end-of-season play-offs.
“Darcy has seen a surgeon and he is going to be out long term,” Everitt said. “We’re hoping that he’ll be back in at the tail end of the season, but there’s nothing definite.
“It will be frustrating for Darcy. We know that he’s proud of the club he plays for and he loves having the opportunity to play for his country.
“When he went down with that injury last week he was really training well and looking forward to being in contention against England so one can imagine the disappointment that he’s going through at the moment.
“But we’re also aware that in the game we’re in, these things happen, it’s the nature of the sport. He accepts what needs to be done and he’ll be very relieved when he’s back to full fitness and doesn’t have to carry these niggles with him throughout the season.”
Graham, joint-third on Scotland’s all-time try-scoring list with 24 in 39 Tests, missed last season’s Six Nations after tearing knee ligaments playing for Edinburgh in December 2022.
He returned in time to feature in Scotland’s pre-World Cup warm-up Tests and scored five tries at the tournament in France, only to suffer a hip injury in their final pool game against Ireland.
That led to a further two months on the sidelines, a period which also saw him have a screw removed from his knee from his previous injury.
When he returned to action for Edinburgh in December, Graham admitted his knee had been “giving him bother” for the past 12 months and there were times he was in “constant pain” and relying on painkillers to get through training and matches.
But after four games back, the livewire wing – who recently agreed a new contract with Edinburgh until the 2027 World Cup – suffered a quad issue in mid-January and is now facing another frustrating period on the sidelines after his latest setback.
“He is an explosive athlete, as we all know, and he’s got good feet, so he is at risk of getting injuries,” said Everitt. “I think it is bad luck. I have coached many players in the past who are just injury prone and sometimes it just goes away after a period of time.
“I just feel it is important that at this stage in his career that he gets time to sort out the niggles he has been carrying over a period of time.
“We all know the pressures of the World Cup, the pressure that was on to play in that tournament and get the best possible result, but there is an opportunity now for Darcy to use this time to get better, and if need be take the rest of this season plus the pre-season to build himself up into top form.
“Darcy is 26 years old, we’ve signed him long term at the club, we all know that he is world class when he is on top of his game, so it is vitally important for him as an individual that we look after his wellbeing other than the physical side of his performance.
“A player who is in a good state of mind and injury free is a player who is going to perform week in and week out.”
Asked if Graham had perhaps pushed himself too hard in his quest to play some part in the Six Nations, Everitt added: “I wouldn’t say it was that. It is just that he is a competitive human being so when he is out on the field, he gives everything that he can. And how you see him play on a Saturday is how he trains during the week.
“They have been different injuries. When he came out of the World Cup he also had to have on object removed from his knee. It is just unfortunate for him that it has been a string of injuries in a row, and sometimes players go through that.
“I can use Pat Lambie as an example. When I was coaching at the Sharks, Pat got injured four Super Rugby tournaments in a row within the first four weeks of the campaign, so that does happen.
“Fortunately for Darcy, these injuries are reparable and we look forward to seeing him back to his best.”
Everitt also provided an update on flanker Luke Crosbie, who suffered a shoulder injury in Scotland’s opening Six Nations match against Wales and is likely to remain out of action until at least April.
“Luke probably won’t be fit for our South Africa tour (URC matches against Stormers and Sharks in late March), unfortunately, but he is feeling a lot better,” he added.
“An AC joint is a complicated injury because sometimes you get all your movement back and then you get a whack on the shoulder and the injury returns so we’ve got to be careful how we manage him.
“We don’t need to rush him back, we’ve got depth in that department. We want to give Luke every opportunity to get back to full fitness so he can compete in the latter part of the season.”
Comments on RugbyPass
“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
5 Go to comments