Two key Edinburgh players could miss rest of season as injuries pile up for Mike Blair

The news comes as the club await the results of tests on prostitutes Stuart McInally and Dave Cherry who were both injured in Saturday night’s loss to Ulster and are deemed doubtful for the European Challenge quarter-final Cup this weekend against the Wasps.

There are also concerns surrounding James Lang, who was kneed in the Ulster game and Edinburgh will be forced to dig deep into his squad as the season nears its peak.

Blair feels he lacks a full XV of players. Jamie Ritchie, Luan de Bruin, Boan Venter, Viliame Mata and Ben Toolis were ruled out for the rest of the campaign, while Darcy Graham, Nick Haining, Angus Williams and Glen Young all missed Ulster’s game. In addition, Marshall Sykes is still suspended following his red card against Zebre Parma.

The only ray of light is that Graham is close to returning from a quad injury.

“Darcy touches and goes right now,” Blair said. “We’re just waiting to see how he goes through some training, but he’s not far off.

“Ramiro and Henry, we are unlikely to see them again this season.”

Moyano suffered a bicep injury in the win over Zebre, and Immelman suffered a knee injury in the Challenge Cup game against Bath.

Blair’s most immediate concern is the hooker position as he faces the likely loss of Scotland internationals McInally, who has a calf injury, and Cherry, who has an arm injury.

“They’re going to have scans,” the coach said. “They will probably struggle a bit this weekend, but we don’t have those results.

“I think Stuart McInally is very unlikely. Dave Cherry, you never know until you’ve had this scan how much of it is bruising and how much of it is something more permanent, so we’ll just have to wait and see with him.

In their likely absence, Adam McBurney will step in, with teenager Patrick Harrison also providing the cover. Harrison became the youngest hooker in club history when he made his debut against the Dragons last year aged 18. Now 19, he has played for Watsonians in the Super6 Sprint for the past few weeks.

McBurney, who joined Edinburgh at the end of the season from Ulster, has had limited opportunities and Blair expects him to relish the opportunity should it come against Wasps.

“Adam has been absolutely brilliant for us, on and off the pitch,” Blair said. “He really drives in a standard way and he is incredibly competitive. He’ll be knocked out when you don’t select him, then half an hour later he’ll do whatever he can to help prepare the team and make it better.

“He’s a really good man and we’re already having proper conversations about his involvement with 23, so it’s really great that he can seize an opportunity this week.”

It’s a tough time for Edinburgh as they chase top honors on two fronts. Despite losing 16-10 to Ulster, they picked up a losing bonus point which secured their place in the URC play-offs meaning they are through to the last eight of both competitions in which they have participated this season.

While he’s disappointed to lose so many players, Blair knows it gives others opportunities too.

“I look at the pool of unavailable players we have now and I think, ‘Damn, is this unprecedented? What other teams are dealing with this?'” he said.

“It’s frustrating to have so many guys out – we probably have an international XV that’s not available to us, but that’s not something we can do too much and as I said before, it gives guys opportunities to step up.

“Ben Muncaster on the bench, I thought he was fantastic again. Connor Boyle has been excellent. So it gives players opportunities. Gus Williams has been with us, Harrison Courtney has been with us, both Super6 players , so it opened the door for the guys to get playing time and show what they can do and, in the longer term, it’s going to be a good situation for us.