Darcy Graham out until Christmas and will miss Scotland’s Nations Championship campaign

Darcy Graham will miss Scotland’s autumn Nations Championship campaign and the first half of the domestic season with Edinburgh after it emerged he had ruptured his bicep in the friendly match against Harlequins last Friday.

The winger, who is Scotland men’s all-time leading try-scorer, did not realise the severity of the injury until he received the results of a scan.

Sean Everitt, the Edinburgh head coach, reckons Graham will be sidelined for “12 weeks minimum”, effectively ruling him out until Christmas.

Darcy Graham was in fine try-scoring form for Scotland last season, including a double in the win over France in the Guinness Six Nations match at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. | Getty Images

It means he will play no part in Scotland’s Nations Championship games in November against New Zealand, Australia and Japan at Murrayfield and the play-off tie at Twickenham. He will also be unavailable for much of the United Rugby Championship season which begins on Friday for Edinburgh with an away match against Ulster.

Freakish

“We haven't had much luck as far as [injuries are] concerned,” said Everitt, who is also without fellow Scotland internationals Duhan van der Merwe, Luke Crosbie, Grant Gilchrist, Ben Vellacott, Harry Paterson, Ben Muncaster, Ewan Ashman and Pierre Schoeman for the game in Belfast

“The injuries have been pretty freakish. Darcy Graham got a contusion on his bicep in a collision on the weekend. He was training on Monday [only] to 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.”

Graham, 29, has had to contend with a number of serious injuries throughout his career but has shown great durability to bounce back. He has 38 Test tries in 57 Scotland appearances, seven of which were scored last season, including four in the Six Nations.

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

Darcy Graham, who suffered a bicep injury during Edinburgh Rugby's pre-season match against Harlequins. | SNS Group

“And we have got depth in that position. Fortunately for us, we've got Duhan returning [from an ankle injury] probably in the next three weeks. We've got Harry Paterson who should be ready to go next week.

“So we're well covered there. And then just to get back to the injuries, again, obviously, you know, that list is very long at the moment, but at the same time, that could become very short in three weeks’ time.”

17 listed as unavailable

There are 17 Edinburgh players listed as unavailable for the Ulster game, four of whom picked up injuries in the Harlequins pre-season fixture. Paterson and Muncaster both suffered ankle issues and the latter is awaiting the results of an MRI scan. Mosese Tuipulotu is recovering from a concussion after colliding with a team-mate at Twickenham Stoop.

Additionally, Ashman will not be involved against Ulster after the Scotland hooker felt some stiffness around his abdominal muscles. He should be available for the URC round two game against the Stormers along with his front-row colleague, Schoeman. Back-three player Jack Brown is out for the longer term after undergoing surgery on an MCL knee injury he picked up in the friendly against Ealing which is set to sideline him for 12 to 16 weeks.

Everitt will give competitive debuts to four of his new signings in the Ulster game, three of them in the backline where Geordie Gwynn (left wing), Kienan Higgins (inside centre) and James Grayson (stand off) all start. Alec Hepburn, the prop signed from Scarlets, is picked at loosehead. There is also a potential debut off the bench for 19-year-old Rory McHaffie who impressed for Scotland Under-20s at the Junior World Championships in the summer and covers the back three.

Having finished a disappointing 12th last season and missing out on the URC play-offs, Edinburgh overhauled their backroom staff, bringing in new assistant coaches and making changes to their fitness and medical departments. Everitt said the new personnel had brought a freshness to the club and he expects to see an improvement on the field.

“I'm confident that we'll be better,” said the coach. “I've also seen improvements in the friendlies that we've played.”

“We want to be back in the play-offs,” he added.

Edinburgh Rugby team

(v Ulster, Affidea Stadium, BKT United Rugby Championship, Friday, 7.45pm)

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

Edinburgh players who are unavailable

Unavailable for selection: Patrick Harrison (back), Dylan Richardson (groin), Duhan van der Merwe (ankle), Luke Crosbie (hamstring), Grant Gilchrist (bicep), Rhys Litterick (achilles), Ben Vellacott (shoulder), Marshall Sykes (shoulder), Connor Boyle (knee), Jack Brown (knee), Wes Goosen (hamstring), Harry Paterson (ankle), Darcy Graham (bicep), Mosese Tuipulotu (concussion), Ben Muncaster (ankle), Ewan Ashman (oblique), Pierre Schoeman (rest).