Solving Edinburgh Rugby's head-scratcher: how to get best out Van der Merwe, Graham and Co

In back-three options like Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe, Wes Goosen and Harry Paterson, the capital club can call upon players of the highest calibre, two of them statistically the most prolific try-scorers in Scotland’s history.

The problem, however, has been getting the ball in their hands often enough. There has rarely been a consistent look to Edinburgh’s 9-10-12-13 axis, with players rotating in and out and unable to form productive partnerships.

Injuries, of course, have played their part but that inefficiency among the backs has not gone unnoticed within the club either. Out the door this summer has gone Scott Mathie, replaced as attack coach by Tim Sampson, the experienced Australian whose previous post was with the Fijian Drua. Scrum-half Charlie Shiel, stand-off Ben Healy and centre James Lang have also been moved on, supplanted by a raft of new faces, many of them from overseas.

Two will arrive, eventually, from New Zealand and both are Scottish-qualified. Louie Chapman, the scrum-half, is expected in the autumn following his involvement with Canterbury in the National Provincial Championship (NPC).

Riley Higgins, the much-hyped Hurricanes centre, is another set to offer a belated boost to the backline once he has recovered from shoulder surgery. Both are players familiar to Sampson, who also coached in Super Rugby with Western Force and Melbourne Rebels, and he is eager to work with them.

“I've known them for a while and played against them over the years,” he said. “They're exciting and they'll add a nice dimension to our game. They'll arrive and fight for their position because having new coaches and new staff, we've got eyeballs on every player. There'll be good competition for those run-on jerseys.

“Louie doesn't arrive until after the NPC. He probably wanted more game time with the Crusaders this year, which he didn't get, but he's playing for Canterbury. So it'll be good to get those guys over and freshen things up at the back end of this year.”

Three new players settle in

The rest of the new recruits are already on the ground and bedding in nicely. Higgins’ brother, Kienan, another centre, is back for a second spell, while James Grayson has jetted in from Japan to offer competition at fly-half. Closer to home, another Scottish-qualified midfielder, Georgie Gwynn, has made the move north from Ealing Trailfinders.

“He's just about back to full training,” said Sampson of Grayson. “He came with a little bit of a niggle from Japan but he's flying. He speaks up on the field a fair bit to the other 10s and they have little conversations during and post-training. He's got a bit of experience behind him, which is great. That'll be a good battle as well for the 10 jersey.”

The incumbent in that role is Ross Thompson, a player who has never quite fulfilled that early promise when he broke through at Glasgow amid excitable chatter that this was the long-term heir to Finn Russell.

Just seven caps later and now 27 years old, Thompson has undoubtedly lost his way a little bit but Sampson believes he is someone with more to give.

“He seems like a real deep thinker of the game,” added the Australian. “He's locked in, which is great, and he’s got a nice left boot. I've been working a lot with Ross and Cammy [Scott], just on speed through the hands to get that ball to space as quickly as possible. Ross is going to be a very good fly-half in the years to come.”

It is how to get the best out of van der Merwe and Graham, however, that remains the biggest puzzler. Both can win games almost on their own but Edinburgh fans have seen that too infrequently.

“Duhan and Darcy are probably different in their own way,” added Sampson. “Darcy's a real instinctive outside back. He can create something from nothing. Duhan's that big, powerful winger that most teams crave for but can also create something from nothing.

“That's part of my job to use our weapons and get the ball to them. It's how I like to play, to move the ball around and get it to the edges. But they've got a licence to go looking for the ball as well, which I think they're quite good at. I'm looking forward to working with these guys. They’re world-class.”