Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Edinburgh statement: The signing of Matt Scott for the third time

Ex-Leicester midfielder Matt Scott (Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)

Matt Scott has ended speculation about his next move after Edinburgh confirmed on Friday he is joining them on a one-year deal. The Scotland midfielder had been a free agent since finishing up at Leicester Tigers at the end of the 2023/24 season. He was confirmed in April as one of the 10 leavers from Welford Road, but it has taken four months for his future to be secured. A club statement read: “Edinburgh Rugby are pleased to announce the signing of Scotland international centre Matt Scott on a one-year deal.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Capable of playing at outside and inside centre, the English Premiership winner left Leicester Tigers at the end of the 2023/24 season after a four-year spell, which included lifting the title in 2022. The move signals a third spell in the Scottish capital for the Dunfermline-born former Currie man, whose professional rugby journey began at the club as an academy player in 2011 and has included 40 international caps for his country.

“A near-centurion, Scott has made 94 appearances for Edinburgh to date, earned either side of a two-season spell at Gloucester Rugby – he played for the Cherry and Whites 34 times – before returning south to join Tigers in 2020.

Video Spacer

Boks Office on the size of junior players these days | RPTV

Boks Office is back and this week they have Springbok Evan Roos on the couch. Watch the full show on RugbyPass TV

Watch now

Video Spacer

Boks Office on the size of junior players these days | RPTV

Boks Office is back and this week they have Springbok Evan Roos on the couch. Watch the full show on RugbyPass TV

Watch now

“It was there that Scott scored 15 tries in 80 appearances, which included a place in the 2022 Premiership Rugby final as Tigers beat Saracens 15–12 to take the trophy. Scott brings a wealth of experience to the backline and will play a key mentorship role to young centres Matt Currie and Mosese Tuipulotu (both 23), as well as the up-and-coming backs joining the club’s expanded academy, which will be announced in the coming weeks.”

Scott said: “I feel very excited to be given the opportunity to return to Edinburgh for a third time. It will be great to lace up the boots again with some old friends as well as some new ones.

“I haven’t had the chance to play at Hive Stadium yet but, from watching it on TV, it looks like a brilliant place to play rugby. I hope to offer plenty of value to the squad having been in a Premiership winning team at Leicester, full of World Cup winners and seasoned internationals.

“I have learned a tremendous amount from being in that winning environment and I’m excited to add some of that to our talented squad at Edinburgh. The city is home for me and, having recently moved back up with my family, the opportunity to play out my final matches as a professional in my hometown is very special and I feel grateful to have been given the opportunity to do so.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt added: “We are delighted to bring a player of Matt’s talent, calibre and experience back to the club. He is a league winner and Test match animal capable of playing in both centre positions, giving us great options and variety in our game for the season ahead.

“Matt’s leadership qualities are exceptional. His ability to guide and mentor our young centres is a key factor in bringing him back to the club. We believe he will be a fantastic role model for our next generation of talent.

“He is an Edinburgh boy who cares greatly about the club and, from what I hear, is a popular player among the squad and supporters alike, which is testimony to both his ability and character. His experience will be invaluable to our group. He’s a great addition to our squad.”

Related

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

287 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Tupou Vaa'i gives first impression of 'big unit' Fabian Holland Tupou Vaa'i on 'big unit' Fabian Holland
Search