Proud Roddy Grant gears up for his 50th Edinburgh outing

Back row star Roddy Grant will tomorrow become the 36th player to make 50 competitive appearances for Edinburgh when he turns out at Italian side Aironi in the RaboDirect Pro 12 league.

The 24-year-old will join an elite group that includes Scotland captains Al Kellock, Chris Paterson, Mike Blair and Scott Murray along with All Blacks skipper, Todd Blackadder and also featuring British and Irish Lion Ross Ford and evergreen Allan Jacobsen.

Grant said: “Fifty games is obviously a huge personal milestone that I’m extremely proud of.” Unlike many of his predecessors, though, Grant went straight in at the deep end with a debut as part of the starting line-up as opposed to being phased in off the bench.

Initially attached to the now defunct Border Reivers, who gave him a first taste of the professional game as a sub at Newport Gwent Dragons, Grant had to wait another two seasons for an opportunity and is quick to acknowledge it came as a consequence of others’ misfortune.

“After the Borders closed I was involved with Glasgow through the National Academy and had a lucky break when injuries meant I was called into the Edinburgh set-up. They needed a flanker for a home game with Ulster and I got the nod for a match we won.”

Grant impressed that night but had to wait 10 matches for his second appearance, away to Cardiff in the final match of the 2008-9 campaign – and again Edinburgh won.

By now the impression that Grant was something of a talisman had gained momentum but the Botswana-born ace has another take on his arrival. “From the start it was great playing for Edinburgh in the same position that our then coach, Andy Robinson, had occupied at a high level. When the contract offer enabling me to stay with Edinburgh arrived I jumped at the chance and have thoroughly enjoyed every game since. That Edinburgh debut came in mid-season but it was a real incentive to keep training as hard as I could to impress. Luckily, I got the reward.

“I’d recovered from a knee injury which had kept me out for eight or nine months, been out to New Zealand on a Macphail Scholarship [attaching young prospects to the Auckland University club] and been given a string of international sevens tournaments. Little wonder I was feeling great when my chance came and every season since has been memorable. In my first season I received the Players’ Player award and obviously captaining the side last season was an honour.”

This time round, leadership duties have switched to Greig Laidlaw in an arrangement which might just assist Grant in his quest to take the final step from A international honours to full cap status – not that he sees it that way. “When I had the captaincy my first objective was to be playing well and preparing as if to play the game of my life. It’s the same now – simple as that. There are a few voices that should always be heard in a collegiate system drawing on everybody’s experience and the bottom line is that, given the competition that exists, everybody needs to be playing well to get picked and not just good one week and average the next.”

Consistency is what Edinburgh will be seeking at the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella after kick-starting their season with a 19-14 win over Connacht at Murrayfield last time out.

“We needed to win against Connacht, which we did, and the whole dynamic changes after a win. The easiest way to build momentum is with a win as opposed to a [good] performance.”

Aironi are without a league win in seven outings since March but Grant recalled how Edinburgh scraped home 10-9 on their last visit.

“Chunk [Allan Jacobsen] scored the try that got us through last time and with players on both sides away at the World Cup there are complications in planning. We know Aironi will rely on a good stand-off moving them around the pitch and, as always, they will be physical, especially at home. The key is to be more physical and win the collisions, most games are like that. If we win the collisions we’ll do well.”