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More bad news for Edinburgh rookie Freddy Douglas as team named
By Bryn Palmer
Edinburgh have confirmed teenage Scotland flanker Freddy Douglas is facing surgery on the ankle injury he sustained on his first start for the club last week against Gloucester.
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The 19-year-old was forced off 20 minutes into Edinburgh’s opening European Challenge Cup match at Kingsholm last Friday, a week after making his club debut off the bench in their URC victory over Benetton.
On Monday, head coach Sean Everitt reported that Douglas – who became Scotland’s youngest debutant for 63 years last month – was facing a “minimum of four weeks” on the sidelines as he awaited the results of a scan.
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But the young openside now looks to be facing a longer period out after Everitt said on Thursday the initial verdict was “a little bit more serious” than the club had hoped.
“He needs to go and seek surgical opinion today and we’ll know after his appointment with the surgeon on the way forward with him,” Everitt said. “It is a disappointment because he’s just had such a great start to the season. It’s been an unbelievable year for him, from where he’s come from and how he’s ended up with a Scottish international cap, a URC cap and an EPCR cap.
“But that’s the nature of the game. He’s going to have to learn that there’s going to be more adversity in his rugby career. No-one goes through a career without stepping backwards from an injury point of view. That’s a challenge for him but one that he’ll get through, I’m sure.”
As well as Friday’s Challenge Cup visit of French side Bayonne, Douglas was already set to miss this month’s back-to-back URC derbies with Scottish rivals Glasgow, but his readiness for their remaining European pool fixtures in January, plus the start of the Six Nations period, now appears to be in doubt.
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The prognosis on Edinburgh co-captain Ben Vellacott is more positive, however. The scrum-half felt an ankle problem in the warm-up before the Gloucester game and will also miss Friday’s fixture with Bayonne, but Everitt expects Vellacott to be available for the first of the two fixtures against Glasgow at Hampden Park on 22 December.
The South African welcomes back eight Scottish internationals for the visit of the Top 14 side, including flanker Luke Crosbie, who is set for only his second club start of the season after struggling with neck and calf problems this term.
The need to get Crosbie back to full match fitness, and Everitt’s wish to give Tom Dodd more exposure after his start against Gloucester, means Hamish Watson will be absent from Edinburgh’s match-day 23 for a third straight match.
“We will see Hamish again,” Everitt insisted. “We’ve got Luke coming back now and at this stage last year, he formed a partnership with Jamie (Ritchie) in the loose trio which does give us opportunities at line-out.
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“At the same time, if we keep leaving Luke out, when does he ever get to the form that he showed last year that made him one of Scotland’s better players in their Six Nations game against Wales? Unfortunately, he’s had a few injuries to deal with but we need to get a guy of his calibre back up and running.
“We know what we get from Hamish. He’s had five games to prove his worth in the URC. I do have this opportunity now to play other guys.
“Tom Dodd had one start for us, and if we don’t give them a string of games together, we’ll never know what a guy like Tom is capable of. For me, it’s just about knowing what we have and giving other guys an opportunity if they can step up to the plate.”
Friday will also see the return of Scotland prop Javan Sebastian – from the bench – for the first time this season.
The tighthead picked up a quad issue in pre-season and then injured his shoulder during his comeback for Edinbugh’s A team in October.
“Javan had an unfortunate start to the season,” Everitt added. “We are going into a big block of games now over December and into January as well, so it’s important for him to get some match fitness and put his hand up for selection in the two games coming up.”
Edinburgh team v Bayonne:
15. Wes Goosen (39 games for club)
14. Darcy Graham (70)
13. Matt Currie (46)
12. Mosese Tuipulotu (7)
11. Duhan van der Merwe (98)
10. Ross Thompson (8)
9. Ali Price (23)
1. Pierre Schoeman (121)
2. Ewan Ashman (26)
3. Paul Hill (8)
4. Marshall Sykes (71)
5. Grant Gilchrist – captain (211)
6. Jamie Ritchie (120)
7. Luke Crosbie (103)
8. Magnus Bradbury (120)
Replacements:
16. Dave Cherry (97)
17. Boan Venter (74)
18. Javan Sebastian (17)
19. Sam Skinner (27)
20. Tom Dodd (12)
21. Charlie Shiel (64)
22. Ben Healy (28)
23. James Lang (58)
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