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Mike Blair assessing Edinburgh's Scotland internationals

By PA
Duhan van der Merwe of Scotland looks dejected during the Autumn International match between Scotland and New Zealand All Blacks at Murrayfield Stadium on November 13, 2022 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Edinburgh head coach Mike Blair is assessing his Scotland internationals before deciding which of them to restore to the team for Friday’s United Rugby Championship showdown with Munster.

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The capital club were without a host of big names for Saturday’s disappointing defeat away to Benetton as Grant Gilchrist, Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman and Jamie Ritchie were among those given time off following their exploits with the national team during the recent autumn series.

The majority of the team’s key men have now rejoined training ahead of Friday’s match at home to ninth-place Munster.

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“We should have most of our internationals available so we’ll just work out the best way of bringing them back in over this intense period,” said Blair, referring to the fact his fifth-place team are due to play on each of the next nine weekends before the Six Nations kicks off in early February.

“Munster have improved a lot as the season has gone on. We definitely see a lot of growth in what they’re trying to do. They’ve made some changes with their coaching and their systems but they’ve still got quality players and they’ll feel it’s a really important game for them, as it is for us.”

Blair, speaking at his media briefing on Monday afternoon, remained frustrated with his team’s display in Saturday’s 24-17 defeat in Italy.

“We weren’t consistent enough with our application,” he said. “There was some really good stuff in there, some good moments, but playing away from home against a team like Benetton, you need to be on it 100 per cent and we kind of dropped in and out the game.

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“That’s not good enough at this level.”

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TI 4 hours ago
All Blacks player ratings vs Italy | Autumn Nations Series

Rieko took literally years to turn from a defensive liability at 13 into a guy, who’s defensively sound as it befits the position. And it all came at the cost of him being much less of an offensive threat, than what he used to be. Proctor is a natural 13, he handles, passes, and kicks way better than Rieko ever will, he just isn’t as fast.


It’s unfair to judge Tupaea on the handful of games he’s had in 2022 before he got nearly crippled by a Wallaby lock. What could Tupaea/Proctor pairing be, if they got the same amount of chances as Jordie/Rieko?


Because no matter how you spin it, playing a player outside of his natural position is a poor asset management. No matter how talented he is, he still competes against players who had years and years of practice at the position. And if said guy is so talented that he actually CAN compete against specialists, imagine how much better still he could have been, if he had all those years to iron the toothing issues at the position. It just drives me mad.


Two things I hate in rugby union beyond description: aping after league, and playing players outside of their natural position. Especially considering, that they all admit they hate it, when they’re allowed to speak freely. Owen Farrell spent 80% of his international career at 12, saying every time when asked, that he is a 10 and prefers to play at 10. Those players are literally held at a gunpoint: play out of position, or no national jersey for you.

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