Ford among seven players to leave Edinburgh

Edinburgh Rugby have today confirmed that seven members of the squad will leave the club at the end of the 2018/19 season.

Scotland’s most capped player, Ross Ford – who has so far made 197 appearance for the capital side – leads the list following an 11-year career at the club.

Fellow internationalist and club centurion Tom Brown – who made his Edinburgh debut in 2010 and has since made 118 appearances – will also move on at the end of the current campaign.

Joining the pair in departing are scrum-half Sean Kennedy – an Edinburgh player since 2011, with 66 appearances to his name – and Scotland back-row Luke Hamilton.

With their departures already confirmed, scrum-half Nathan Fowles – who has made 71 appearances in the capital since joining the club in 2015 – will join Ealing at the end of the season, while back-row Senitiki Nayalo departs for Coventry.

Also included is Scotland international prop, Allan Dell, who’s departure to London Irish for the 2019/20 season was confirmed in January.

Head Coach Richard Cockerill, said: “We first and foremost want to thank all the departing players for their hard work, commitment and professionalism during their time at the club.

“They all leave with our upmost respect and we wish them all the best in their future rugby endeavours.

“Fordy is, and will go down in history as, one of the great Edinburgh and Scotland players. He’s a credit to the game with his work ethic, both on and off the pitch, while his playing record speaks for itself. I’ve got no doubt that he will be a success in whatever he decides to do in the future.”

With 110 Test appearances for Scotland, three Rugby World Cups (2007, 2011, 2015) and a British & Irish Lions tour (2009) to his name, Ford will go down as one of Edinburgh and Scottish rugby’s most decorated players.

The hooker joined Edinburgh from Border Reivers in 2007 and soon cemented himself as one of the northern hemisphere’s best.

The Kelso RFC product – who was a key man in the Edinburgh side that reached the Heineken Champions Cup Semi-Final in 2012 – became only the third player to reach 100 Scotland appearances in 2016, before becoming the national side’s most capped player of all time (110 Test appearances) in June 2017.

In a try-scoring cameo against Leinster last month, Ford surpassed Matthew Rees in becoming the second most capped player in the Guinness PRO14 with 203 total league appearances.
Edinburgh Leavers 2018/19

Ross Ford – 1 British & Irish Lions appearance; 110 Scotland caps; 197 Edinburgh appearances; 12 tries

Tom Brown – 1 Scotland cap; 118 Edinburgh appearances; 20 tries

Sean Kennedy – 66 Edinburgh appearances; 3 tries

Nathan Fowles – 71 Edinburgh appearances; 48 points

Allan Dell – 22 Scotland caps; 59 Edinburgh appearances; 3 tries

Luke Hamilton – 3 Scotland caps; 13 Edinburgh appearances

Senitiki Nayalo – 3 Edinburgh appearances