Darcy Graham finally free of ‘constant pain’ caused by screw in his knee and no longer relying on painkillers

The Edinburgh and Scotland winger speaks candidly on his injury issues of late

There was much to enjoy in Edinburgh’s 34-21 bonus-point win over Castres Olympique on Saturday – but perhaps the most pleasing aspect was the return of Darcy Graham.

It was the free-scoring winger’s first club outing in nearly eight months and only his fifth of 2023 following two serious injuries, one of which proved more troublesome than originally expected. Speaking after the game, Graham talked candidly about the excruciating pain he has had to deal with after having a screw inserted in his knee last season when he injured it against Munster in December 2022. It affected his sleep, his training and even his ability to climb stairs. Painkillers were required but it couldn’t go on and when he injured his hip in Scotland’s final match of the Rugby World Cup against Ireland in Paris in October he decided enough was enough.

It was, in his words, the chance to “kill two birds with one stone”: have an operation to fix the hip and use the time out to also have the screw removed from his knee. His relief seemed palpable as he looked forward to a few big months with club and country, kicking off with this Friday’s 1872 Cup opener against Glasgow Warriors and continuing into the 2024 Six Nations.

“My knee has been ongoing,” he said. “I got it originally against Munster. I got the screw taken out and that allows me to run more freely now. I am not in constant pain anymore. I can walk up stairs now and not be in pain. I don’t wake up in the middle of night feeling sore any more. My overall life is a lot better.”

When Graham damaged his medial collateral ligament (MCL) against Munster just over 12 months ago he was in the form of his life. He’d enjoyed an outstanding autumn series with Scotland, scoring a try in the narrow defeat by New Zealand and a hat-trick in the big win over Argentina. He had also been flying for Edinburgh and was sorely missed in the second half of the season as things went awry at the capital club. He returned for Edinburgh’s final four games before linking up with Scotland to prepare for the World Cup but the knee was still troubling him.

“I got the operation on my knee this time last year and that is when I got the screw put in,” he explained. “Pretty much 11 months later I got the screw taken out and I never got another one put in. It did not affect me in games, it was more training wise. I was so sore and it took me a lot to get warmed up and I found training quite hard. If you don’t train to full intensity, especially in the World Cup at international level, you don’t get the best out of yourself. Even here at club level, if you don’t train at 100 per cent you can’t kick on. So yes, it probably did affect me [during the World Cup]. I would not say I was any worse than I had been. I was average. I had more in me but I was not at my worst. I had been carrying that knee pain for 11 months so it was always going to affect me.”

Graham had to rely on painkillers which helped him get through the World Cup but it was not a long-term solution. “As soon as I got onto medication and painkillers I was fine, I didn’t feel it. That was the reason we decided to take the screw out. I couldn’t live on painkillers and medication all the time but when I was on that I was fine.”

Darcy Graham, left, celebrates with Duhan van der Merwe after the latter's second try in the 34-21 win over Castres in the EPCR Challenge Cup. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

The winger described the screw inside his knee as “massive”, indicating it was over an inch long, and although he was happy to see it removed he hasn’t discarded it. “I have kept it! It is in my bedroom,” he said. The removal of the screw was possible because the ligament had healed fully and Graham is now concentrating on regaining his sharpness and cementing his place in an Edinburgh team which has a glut of back-three talent.

“They put a fake MCL in over the top to give my real MCL time to heal,” he explained. “When they took out the fake MCL and screw my normal MCL had healed fully. It is solid as a rock now. Everything is fine. Back to normal. I just need to get back to full match fitness and work hard at training. Minutes are key for me just now. I need to get them in with the Six Nations just round the corner and the two big Glasgow games so I am glad I got that run out.”

Graham, who started the Castres game on the bench, was due to play 20-30 minutes but when Edinburgh full-back Harry Paterson was clattered by Adrea Cocagi in the ninth minute Graham found himself involved earlier than expected. Paterson failed a head injury assessment and Graham played 71 minutes. Cocagi, meanwhile, was sent off and Castres paid the price for their indiscipline as they saw their early lead through Antoine Bouzerand’s try wiped out.

Edinburgh scored four first-half tries through Wes Goosen, Duhan van der Merwe, Ali Price and Matt Currie to lead 27-7 at the interval. The latter two were scored when Castres were down 13 men following a yellow card for prop Aurelien Azar. Van der Merwe scored his second try in the second half and although Castres responded with scores from Wayan de Benedittis and Leone Nakarawa, Edinburgh held on to deny them a bonus point and get their EPCR Challenge Cup campaign up and running. They have two group games remaining, against Pool 3 leaders Gloucester at home on January 13 and bottom side Scarlets away six days later. But for now the focus switches on to Glasgow and the 1872 Cup double-header.