‘Commands respect’ - Edinburgh Rugby coach explains change at 10

It will be only the third competitive start for the young stand-off who has been behind Ross Thompson and Ben Healy in the pecking order but now has a chance to stake his claim.

Sean Everitt, the Edinburgh head coach, believes Scott has worked hard to improve his game and merits his selection in the playmaker’s role.

“I wouldn’t say it is a big call,” said Everitt. “He has been in the system for two years. He has played a lot of A team rugby and done well. If you remember the game against Zebre last year [a 25-25 draw in Parma], he came on and actually turned that game around.

Healy drops out

“He has improved his kicking game and worked incredibly hard on the deficiencies in his game. He commands respect, he is strong defensively and runs the attack really well. I think it’s a great opportunity for him and exciting for us that a young 10 is coming through in Scottish rugby.”

Scott, 24, replaces Healy who has dropped out of the match-day squad after starting Edinburgh’s opening two games, both away losses, against Zebre and Munster. Back-up on the bench is provided by Ross Thompson who, like Scott, is poised to make his first appearance of the season following injury.

Scott has recovered from a hamstring problem while Thompson was sidelined by a toe issue.

“Cammy and Ross both went really well in the pre-season but they never got an opportunity to represent Edinburgh in the first couple of games,” added Everitt. “For us it is about giving them a run to get everyone in contention and give them an opportunity.”

Stand-off has had to be patient

Edinburgh-born Scott is a former Scotland Under-20 international and played in the 2020 and 2021 U20 Six Nations where his team-mates included Ewan Ashman, Matt Currie, Rory Darge, Ollie Smith and Gregor Brown. He had stints playing for Boroughmuir Bears in the Super6 and London Scottish on loan and has been a regular on the Edinburgh bench over the last two seasons.

He has had to be patient. He made his debut for the pro club when coming on as a replacement in the win over Cardiff in October 2022 and his first start came a year later when he was selected at full-back against the Dragons at Rodney Parade. His only other start at 10 for Edinburgh was in the defeat by Clermont in the Challenge Cup in France in December 2023.

Scott will have the experienced Charlie Shiel alongside him on Friday, with Everitt opting to change both his halfbacks. Shiel takes over from the benched Ben Vellacott and it’s a rare start for the scrum-half.

“I think what's hampered Charlie over the last few seasons is the lack of consistency, and he certainly has improved in that area, and his kicking game has improved as well,” said Everitt.

“We know that he's got x-factor and he's a dangerous player as well with ball in hand. We saw that against Connacht [last season] when he scored that scintillating try, and he's really dangerous in open space.”

The only other change sees Grant Gilchrist return in the second row in place of Marshall Sykes.

Getting the best out of Darcy and Duhan

Having lost twice on the road and had their home game against Ulster postponed due to Storm Amy, Edinburgh are lagging behind in the URC and really need a win to kick-start their campaign.

There is plenty of potency in the back three where Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe and Wes Goosen all start. The trick will be bringing them into the game and much will depend on the ability of not only Scott but also centres ⁠James Lang and Piers O’Conor to get the ball wide.

Lang played in Graham to score with a delightful cross-kick in last week’s game with Munster but van der Merwe was relatively quiet on an evening when Edinburgh’s cause was fatally undermined by four yellow cards.

“Yeah, we'd like to get the ball into their hands, obviously,” Everitt said of his wingers. “You know, you've got to look at the game as a whole and see how many opportunities did their wingers get with ball in hand as well.

“It was a game that was probably more physical and played amongst the forwards than between the two 15s. Yes, we do want to get the ball to them, but sometimes teams defend, and like I've said it before, that teams will want to prevent those guys from getting the ball in hand.

“Certainly, we would like to do that and hopefully that will be the case on Friday night.”

How they’ll line up at Hive Stadium

Edinburgh Rugby v Benetton (URC, Hive Stadium, Friday, 7.45pm)

Edinburgh: Wes Goosen; Darcy Graham, Piers O’Conor, James Lang, Duhan van der Merwe; Cammy Scott, Charlie Shiel; Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, D’arcy Rae, Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist, Liam McConnell, Dylan Richardson, Magnus Bradbury (capt). Replacements: Paddy Harrison, Jame Whitcombe, Paul Hill, Glen Young, Freddy Douglas, Ben Vellacott, Ross Thompson, Ross McCann.

Benetton: Matt Gallagher; Rhyno Smith, Filippo Drago, Malakai Fekitoa, Ignacio Mendy; Jacob Umaga, Louis Werchon; Mirco Spagnolo, Siua Maile, Giosuè Zilocchi, Giulio Marini, Eli Snyman (capt), Alessandro Izekor, John Bryant, So’otala Fa’aso’o. Replacements: Bautista Bernasconi, Thomas Gallo, Tiziano Pasquali, Riccardo Favretto, Federico Ruzza, Manuel Zuliani, Alessandro Garbisi, Leonardo Marin.

Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU).