Excitement aplenty for 'Jock-Bok' David Denton

Out-of-Africa rugby star David Denton has acknowledged a part played by the original 'Jock-bok' in helping him achieve a first Magners League start for Edinburgh when Cardiff Blues visit Murrayfield tonight.

In his schooldays, back-row forward Denton, now 21, was coached by John Allan, a hooker in the Scotland team that reached the 1991 World Cup semi-final, before returning from Scotland, the country of his birth, to South Africa where he was brought up and where he gained further cap honours in Springbok colours..

"John helped me in a couple of coaching sessions and I saw through his career that it was possible to grow up in South Africa then go to Scotland to pursue ambitions if you are qualified," said Denton, who has Scottish family connections.

It was when attending Kingswood College in Port Elizabeth, having uprooted from the family home in Marondera, Zimbabwe, that he was guided for a time by Allan. Recalling the start of a journey which has led to a first league start to add to a similar experience in this year's Heineken European Cup, coincidentally also against Cardiff, Denton said: "I counted myself fortunate to attend the same Zimbabwean School that produced (ex-Scotland flanker) Scott Gray and (renowned Springbok prop) Tendai Mtawarira up until I was 15."

It was then that the Zimbabwean political situation took a hand in shaping Denton's future. "The government started messing with the private school system and messing with the fees. My parents decided it was not worth going through all that. The fees had gone down so teachers couldn't get paid and they were leaving.

"They (the government) were trying to equalise things and that made sense from one point of view but teachers were never going to stay. So I moved to a South African school where I was exposed to provincial rugby in Eastern Province.

"Having played at provincial level I took advantage of a connection with Edinburgh Accies and told their coach, Ian Barnes, I was coming over. Once in Scotland I then contacted the Scottish rugby academy and asked for a trial.

"Taking the initiative is something I felt I had to do if I wanted to get anywhere and things are working out well. I enjoy returning to Zimbabwe during holidays. Although my dad manages farms outside the country - he had a bit of trouble a few years ago but things have calmed down and I have never felt in any danger returning. My mum still works in Zimbabwe and I'm very proud of my dual nationality which is the best of both worlds. So far as going in at the deep end against Cardiff is concerned - bring it on."

As Edinburgh attempt to get a win over Cardiff for the first time in four meetings this season, they will again be fielding a different back row combination. By promoting elite development squad member Struan Dewar for a debut alongside Denton and Fijian internationalist Netani Talei, Edinburgh list a 15th different combination in 23 starts. Only the Roddy Grant -Talei-Ross Rennie unit (four starts) and a Scott Newlands -Grant-Rennie combo (three starts) have offered consistency in a key area of the team.

Injuries are partly responsible on this occasion but, in any case, Denton has absolute confidence in Dewar, his current national sevens squad colleague. "Anyone who has seen the Scottish sevens team will know that Struan is very dangerous in open space and my job is to hit the rucks hard to free ball up so that we can attack of quick possession," says Denton.

Interim Edinburgh coach Nick Scrivener adds: "David is a big, raw boned, hard-running guy who is developing other parts of his game. Essentially his mission will be to hit rucks and carry ball."

On the various back-row combinations Scrivener, now approaching his fourth match in charge, said: "It would be nice to get consistency of selection and we had it for maybe two weeks but it is the middle of the international programme and we can't control injuries."

While Geoff Cross is the only player returned from Scotland duty, his fellow prop, Lewis Niven remains involved for the sixth successive match giving rise to suggestions that he is being hot-housed at a time when Scottish scrum problems are well documented.

"There are things happening higher up which would suggest they (national selectors) are looking for stability," admits Scrivener.