Graham: I’m really enjoying my rugby

• 13 Oct 2022
• Previews

Winger Darcy Graham may be top try-scorer in the BKT URC with six on the season far, but the Hawick speedster is keeping his feet firmly on the ground as Edinburgh Rugby prepare to host Benetton at DAM Health Stadium this Saturday night (15 October, kick-off 5.15pm).

Graham was this week voted Scottish Building Society Player of the Month and will be looking to score in his third straight home fixture as Italian side Benetton visit the Scottish capital in crucial Scottish x Italian Shield match-up.

“Yeah, it’s not been too bad a start,” said Graham. “I’m enjoying playing, getting my hands on the ball nice and early at the start of the season and building that confidence.

“I think since the start of the season a lot has come my way – I’ve got a lot of easy tries and I’ve been a bit lucky. It’s just the way it goes sometimes and I’m on a good run just now.

“I just do my own thing. I never think too much – I just get the ball and run. I think rugby for me is such a simple game. I don’t try and overcomplicate it: just get the ball and run, heads up.

“I just get the ball and use my feet, beat the bigger defenders. That’s the players I’m going out to look for – the bigger boys!”

With Graham in such a rich vein of form, the winger can now expect extra attention from opposition defences as they try to keep him at bay.

But Graham now has additional back-three support in the form of new recruit Duhan van der Merwe, who joins a unit that already features the likes of Emiliano Boffelli, Henry Immelman, Wes Goosen and Damien Hoyland.

“It’s crazy. Our back three is absolutely ridiculous right now,” continued Graham.

“I’ve got my big brother back now! It’s nice to have Duhi back, he’s a quality operator. He’s here for a few more years now so it’s nice to have him back in the squad.

“We’ve not seen Wes yet – he’s had a tough start to the season picking up a couple of niggles which have kept him out longer than we thought. But he’s a quality operator as well.

“He’s fit and he’s back training with us now. Mike’s going to have a tough job picking the team – it’s going to be very hard, so I’ll leave that to him.”

Edinburgh will be looking to turn around a three-match skid this Saturday night when Benetton visit DAM Health Stadium.

However, having fallen short by a combined deficit of just five points in losses against Vodacom Bulls and Emirates Lions, Graham insists the capital side aren’t far off turning defeats into victories.

He said: “It’s frustrating, but everybody is frustrated. We’ve not been playing terrible. We’ve been playing good rugby, it’s just individual, small errors that have left us down and other teams have capitalised on that by scoring easy tries.

“We just need to be a bit more squeaky clean and play in the right areas. It’s not like a massive fix for us. Like I say it’s just small, individual errors.”

BOOK YOU BENETTON TICKETS