ALMOST six months after damaging his shoulder when he fell awkwardly a yard short of scoring in last season’s Heineken Cup quarter-final, Brendan Laney, the Scotland utility back, could be set for a surprise return to action this weekend in the inter-city derby against Glasgow.
Yesterday, he completed his first full-contact session since the injury and the surgery that followed and Frank Hadden, the Edinburgh coach, is delaying naming his final line-up until he has checked if Laney has suffered any reaction.
Laney was also reluctant to make promises but is included among the backs being considered for Saturday’s game, along with Simon Webster, the wing, who has also been missing with first, a sore back and then an inflamed cut. However, just as Hadden was declaring an end to the injury crisis that has dogged his preseason preparations, he could be facing more trouble with Scott Murray limping away from training with what looked like a twisted ankle while Matt Dey, the centre, also left early. Both Nathan Hines and Marcus Di Rollo were absent but are expected to be available for Saturday.
“It appears the huge injury backlog is behind us and we are getting much closer to being able to select from strength, which is obviously a happier position to be in,” Hadden said. “As a result of this session, I will now be picking the back line. That was Brendan’s first contact session. I would very much like to include him in the squad this weekend but we will have to wait and see. It is great to see him back because he is a very influential player for us. He is back early, which is a great testimony to the medical staff and to his efforts.”
Though Laney is not short of his doubters at international level, he is a key player for Edinburgh. The back division functions smoothly and with imagination when he is there, and stutters when he is not. He is unlikely to be risked for the whole match, but with Glasgow able to select between three capped centres, there is no doubt Hadden would like to have Laney’s experience in midfield, particularly were he to give Phil Godman his first competitive outing for the club at fly half, as seems likely.
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Barring last-minute fitness scares, the forwards are almost back to the unit that did service in the last part of last season, the only change being Andy Kelly being given a chance to prove himself at hooker.
“Last week, we had the two best training sessions by a mile,” Hadden said. “We had a couple of sessions that made me think ‘yeah, we are back, we are up and motoring, we are ready to play’; the previous two months we have not that. We have built on that and sustained it, there is a mood of confidence around the camp.”
The problem is that with many of the opposing players training together in Scotland colours, they know each other’s games inside out and while the matches are always intense, they are often scrappy. Which is why Todd Blackadder, the Edinburgh captain, was warning his players to ignore the derby element.
“We have to focus on our own performance,” he said. “We were pretty disappointed with our last game which we lost through lack of composure. Having had a week off, we need to turn that around.”
Separately, many of the next generation of stars are preparing to represent Scotland in the Youth Commonwealth Games seven-a-side competition. A party of 21, all aged 17 or 18, will prepare for the competition, to be held in Australia. Notable names include the likes of James King and John Barclay, who are already training with professional squads.