Scotland and Edinburgh suffer brutal Darcy Graham blow on eve of season

Edinburgh wing Darcy Graham will miss at least the first three months of the season including Scotland’s Nations Championship campaign in November after suffering a “freakish” injury on the eve of the new campaign.

The 29-year-old flyer suffered a “contusion on his bicep” during Edinburgh’s pre-season friendly at Harlequins last Friday, his first game of the season.

A subsequent MRI scan revealed Graham has ruptured a bicep muscle in his arm and is likely to be sidelined until Christmas.

Such a timescale would see him miss Edinburgh’s first nine matches of the season, as well as Scotland’s November dates against New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

It means Edinburgh will begin their URC campaign at Ulster on Friday without their first choice back three, with Graham’s fellow Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe out until mid-October with an ankle issue and Wes Goosen missing for several weeks with a hamstring injury.

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United Rugby Championship

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11:45

25 Sep 26

Edinburgh

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One possible replacement, Scotland Under-20s wing Jack Brown, has also been ruled out for 12 to 16 weeks after undergoing surgery on a torn knee ligament sustained in a pre-season game against Ealing Trailfinders.

Full-back/wing Harry Paterson, who was forced off with an ankle injury against Quins, also misses the trip to Belfast, with fit-again Malelili Satala and versatile new arrival Geordie Gwynn, largely a centre, starting on the wings.

“We haven’t had much luck as far as injuries are concerned, they have been pretty freakish,” lamented head coach Sean Everitt, who starts the season with 16 players on the treatment table.

“Darcy got a contusion on his bicep in a collision on the weekend. He was training on Monday to then get the MRI report that he’s ruptured his bicep.

“That’s not good news for us and not good news for him, especially with the autumn series coming up. So he’ll be out for 12 weeks minimum. Those things are freakish. Then you look at how, [centre] Mosese [Tuipulotu] got knocked out on the field [against Quins] by his fellow team-mate. That was a freakish accident.”

It is the latest in a series of injury blows which have blighted Graham’s career in recent years since he damaged knee ligaments in late 2022, the wing forced to miss both the 2023 and 2024 Six Nations, the latter with quad and groin issues which required surgery.

He received a late call-up to the British & Irish Lions squad in Australia in 2025 only to suffer an ankle injury 10 minutes into his debut for the tourists.

After starting this year’s Six Nations on the bench, the Borderer extended his Scotland try-scoring record to 38 from 57 Tests with four tries in the last three games of the Championship, but will not get a chance to add to his international tally until 2027.

“It’s not an injury that you can rush a player back from,” Everitt added. “Some players heal quicker than others. [Christmas] would be the worst-case scenario for us and I have to prepare that way.

“But we have got depth in that position. Fortunately, we’ve got Duhan returning in the next probably three weeks and Harry Paterson should be ready to go next week, so we’re well covered there.”

As well as the back-three casualties and the rested Pierre Schoeman, Everitt will also be without eight other Scotland internationals for the trip to Belfast including hooker Ewan Ashman, who needs at least another week to recover fitness after a summer of rehab.

Back-rower Ben Muncaster, meanwhile, is awaiting the results of an MRI scan on an ankle injury sustained against Harlequins.

Four new signings will make their competitive debuts on Friday, three in the backline.

Former Northampton fly-half James Grayson – “he brings a wealth of experience and he’s steering the ship really well,” Everitt said – will form a midfield axis with centre Kienan Higgins, whose younger brother Riley is due to arrive at Edinburgh from Hurricanes in November. “Kienan is a play-making 12 who has the ability to get over the gain-line and win contact,” Everitt said.

Gwynn, who arrived from Ealing Trailfinders, “brings some extra pace on the outside” at left wing while experienced Scotland prop Alec Hepburn starts at loosehead.

Despite the glut of injuries which will hamper his side in their opening URC fixtures against Ulster, Stormers and Zebre, Everitt – who brought in new assistant coaches for defence, attack and contact over the summer- believes he has a squad that should be targeting at least a top-eight play-off spot after last season’s 12th-placed finish.

“It’s not great, but at the same time, it’s an opportunity for us to once again grow depth and use the experience these youngsters gained in the latter part of last season,” he added.

“I believe what we’ve installed in the club over the pre-season has been beneficial to everyone in the squad. We used 47 players last year and all these will definitely get more URC time. We’re going down there [Belfast] to win and put in a good performance, that’s our goal.

“Although you do miss world-class players like Duhan and Darcy, it’s an opportunity for these youngsters to step up.

“If you look at the likes of Liam McConnell, Freddy Douglas and Magnus Bradbury, they were in the Scotland team over the summer. Although there have been changes and there are guys missing, we’re still putting a good team out there tomorrow night.”

Edinburgh XV (* = debut): 15. Piers O’Conor (21 games for club), 14. Malelili Satala (9), 13. Matt Currie (72, co-capt), 12. Kienan Higgins*, 11. Geordie Gwynn*, 10. James Grayson*, 9. Hector Patterson (4); 1. Alec Hepburn*, 2. Harri Morris (17), 3. Paul Hill (35), 4. Callum Hunter-Hill (36), 5. Glen Young (70), 6. Liam McConnell (23), 7. Freddy Douglas (25), 8. Magnus Bradbury (151, co-capt).
Replacements: 16. Jerry Blyth-Lafferty (6), 17. James Whitcombe (7), 18. D’arcy Rae (35), 19. Euan McVie (3), 20. Tom Currie (8), 21. Conor McAlpine (4), 22. Cammy Scott (32), 23. Rory McHaffie*.