Age no barrier as Edinburgh put club's future on Roddy Grant's shoulders

HAVING learned some of the arts of captaincy from leading Scottish figures, Roddy Grant believes he is ready at the tender age of 23 to begin the task of leading Edinburgh to new honours in the game.

The flame-haired openside flanker has stood out since arriving in Scotland from Cape Town as a teenager, first playing with Gala in his mother's hometown, and moving to West of Scotland and Glasgow before being snapped up by Edinburgh from the academy last summer.

He is hard to miss with his shock of red hair, but while his on-field dynamism, ball skills and hard-hitting defence have brought Edinburgh supporters to their feet, his mature approach has marked him out to coaches Rob Moffat, Tom Smith and Nick Scrivener as something different.

Possessing "an old head on young shoulders" has been a common mantra in discussions with coaches about Grant right from those fledgling days at Netherdale, and the lack of surprise around the squad at his appointment as Edinburgh skipper is evidence of the esteem in which he is held by peers.

Now, Grant is the type of hard-headed figure the coaches hope can inspire the core of early-to-mid-twenty-somethings into taking a stronger grip of Edinburgh's future and aiding the more experienced caps to shift from the roller coaster rides of flirting with success to the kind of consistent track that leads to championships.

Grant, who was born in Botswana to Scottish parents but schooled in South Africa, certainly appears ready for the extra responsibility. The trademark wide smile adorning his features at yesterday's media conference, he said: "It is a huge honour, but also something that I feels helps my game, so I was delighted when Rob offered it (the captaincy] to me. I really enjoyed it in the last two games of last season and, now building into this season, I just want to repay him (Moffat] and lead well. "It is an added responsibility, because I think as captain you have to be playing well and leading by example, whether that's in playing games, training or how you conduct yourself around Murrayfield and outwith rugby. But I like that extra bit of pressure, and leading 15 guys certainly spurs me on. I want to be putting myself about for them."

Grant reflected on his relatively short period in Scottish rugby, which has brought Scotland Sevens and A successes and disappointments, and pointed to good role models he has been fortunate to play with as being pivotal in helping to move him to this point.

"I started out at the Borders with Chris Cusiter, who was just back from a Lions tour, and the way he conducted himself around the training pitch and in games left a big mark on me. He was exceptional," he enthused.

"Moving to Edinburgh, it was Mike Blair and Chris Paterson and guys like Ally Hogg. Captaincy is something where you can pick up little things from experienced players like that and I've been lucky, really lucky to have had some excellent leaders.

"But I'll try to do what comes naturally, whether it be playing or chat or just feeling what the vibe from the team is. Obviously, I have the utmost respect for them [internationalists such as Paterson and Blair] and for the type of people they are. They are great guys and great teammates.

"At Edinburgh we're such a tight team that everyone is a teammate to each other as opposed to anything else. They [Paterson and Blair] have offered their support to me and spoken to me about captaincy, and I know I can rely on them and trust them, which I will do. I'll look to those guys for help.

"It makes it a lot easier when you've got that. It's good to get a good balance amongst the squad because you need as many leaders as you can get. It's great to have them to bounce ideas off."

Blair, in turn, spoke yesterday of his support for Grant and insisted that the loss of the captain's role would not alter his approach or style, but the scrum-half is also focused on re-establishing his credentials to the Scotland No 9 jersey and captaincy at the highest level, having fallen to third in the Scotland pecking order last season.

Grant knows also that his place in the Edinburgh team cannot be taken for granted. He was forced to turn out at No 8 last season - albeit doing so impressively - as Hogg and Dave Callam battled injury, and with a fit-again Ross Rennie hoping to start the new season and Alan MacDonald also keen on the openside flanker spot.

Andy Robinson, the Scotland head coach, is also a fan of Grant's and will monitor closely his ability to hold down the Edinburgh spot this season and perform well enough to challenge John Barclay at Glasgow, especially with No 8 Johnnie Beattie ruled out initially through injury.

Grant's first match as Edinburgh captain will be the pre-season friendly against Bath at the Recreation Ground on Saturday, 20 August (3:15pm) and first Murrayfield game the following Friday against London Irish (7:30pm).