EDINBURGH RUGBY may have ditched their "Gunners" nickname but a link has been maintained through Arsenal Football Club helping get one of the oval ball game's rising stars back on his feet.
Fraser McKenzie, 20, who has come up through the ranks via Dunfermline and Heriot's, today told how a referral to the team doctor at Arsenal – the original sporting "Gunners" – is responsible for him starting out on a two-year Edinburgh contract afte
r graduating through the national academy.
It was while captaining Scotland under-19s that the 6ft 6in and 17st 8lb Mckenzie, who has switched from second row to blindside flanker, began to suffer the effects of bone calcification on his knee.
"Basically I sustained a dead leg (thigh strain) after every game. What was happening was that with the thigh muscle trying to protect itself all the pressure was being borne by my knee.
"During a period of seven or eight months out of rugby an old Edinburgh physiotherapist took advantage of a contact at Arsenal FC to get me a consultation. The Manchester United team doctor was also contacted but it was Arsenal's medic who provided the treatment which amounted to me spending two or three hours in London attached to a drip so that a drug could break down the bone mass that had been building up around my knee."
Having followed in the footsteps of the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, this son of Dunfermline rugby president Grant Mckenzie is now ready to make up for lost time.
And that means a final push amounting to around ten yards - the distance between the Edinburgh bench he has occupied twice without getting the call and venturing out on to the pitch.
"It is a bit of a double-edged sword substituting for Edinburgh against Leinster and Cardiff and missing out on a game," says McKenzie.
"Of course it was good experience to be mixing in such company especially when my first subbing shift came two years ago when I was 18.
"But to get so close and no further was frustrating although I have been assured by Edinburgh coach Andy Robinson that if I produce in training my opportunity will come.
"Having a two-year contract means it might take until Christmas to break into the team but I have set aside any further education programme to give rugby a real go at this stage. If I'm thrown in at the deep end I'll just have to learn to swim."
Sinking or swimming is something Mckenzie became used to at Dunfermline when, aged just 16, he made a Premiership Division Three debut, having joined up as a four-year-old mini-rugby player.
"I've always been fortunate to have not just a rugby enthusiast as my dad but a younger brother, Calum, who is in the Scottish under-18 squad at second row.
"Dad was responsible for introducing me to the game. Then coaches such as Alex Hart, Ian Dickson and Phil Smith helped encourage my interest in Fife before transferring to Heriot's where Bob McKillop had a major role in my development even if my knee problem meant playing only ten or 11 games last season without hitting peak fitness.
"There's no doubt, though, that playing for Dunfermline as a 16-year old was quite a tough school starting away to Hillhead/Jordanhill.
"Before long I'd run up against (former Glasgow flanker and Currie captain) John Shaw at East Kilbride.
"I learned a lot from John but my big break came playing at Peebles who are coached by Scottish Rugby's head of community rugby, Colin Thomson.
"Impressing Colin that day helped get my foot on the representative ladder and while I had an enjoyable and rewarding under-20 programme last season captaining Scotland under-18s and under-19s was a particular highlight.
"I've always been prepared to put my opinions forward in rugby. I am a leader and like the team to be a tight knit group because that is when things tend to go well.
"When I get the chance to be captain I always consider it a privilege and hopefully somewhere down the line I could do what Ally Hogg has done at Edinburgh and lead the side from flanker.
"What I do know is that the likes of Ally are always available to assist younger players and I dare say they will welcome pressure from players coming through the ranks.
"Even if I don't make the Edinburgh squad for the opening friendly at Watsonians or London Wasps next week I can still contribute by training hard so as to keep those above me on their toes while hoping to get a chance while they're away on international duty."
The full article contains 800 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
