Returning Mark Bennett can be like a ‘new signing’ for Edinburgh

Mark Bennett made his return from injury for Edinburgh against Cardiff. Picture: Ross Parker/SNS

The capital men head to Italy for a must-win Guinness Pro14 clash with Benetton on Saturday looking to keep their play-off hopes alive, and they have a massive match coming up at the end of the month against Munster at BT Murrayfield in the last eight of the Heineken Champions Cup.

The 26-year-old centre made a return from his latest injury setback out of position on the wing when he came off the bench in the defeat by Cardiff Blues last weekend. He finds himself looking to make up for lost time, once again. Since he joined from Glasgow Warriors in the summer of 2017 the man with 22 Scotland caps to his name and an Olympic sevens silver medal in his back pocket has seen his career stutter.

When he joined he was already a few months into a rehab programme after ACL reconstruction due to an injury sustained against England at Twickenham in March of that year. He returned to make his Edinburgh debut last January, but in September he ruptured a hamstring against Ulster and is just back after five and a half months out.

“Hopefully now it’s like having a new player coming in, relatively fresh, having not played in months,” he said of his welcome return to fitness.

“Myself and Damien Hoyland were in a similar place the whole way through our rehab programme, but we had a wider injured group. There was John Barclay as well and Senitiki Nayolo so there’s been a few of us all trying to come back at the same time which is nice.

“We’ve obviously done a heck of a lot of training, but we’ve not played, so we’re coming in fresh with that enthusiasm to play, wanting to be out there playing and running about, so I’m looking to bring a buzz and energy into the squad.

“I feel good. I worked very closely with Luke Vella, our strength and conditioning coach who works with the injured players, and Andrew Hay who’s our physio.

“They’ve been outstanding and have brought a group of us back in great condition. Obviously Magnus [Bradbury] came back a couple of weeks before me and I thought Damien played well at the weekend as well – we’re fit, we’re strong and we’re raring to go.

“It’s not been a great couple of years for me, but it’s part of the sport isn’t it? The ACL was just a freak injury and then I just got caught in a bad position against Ulster, so these things happen. It has been tough, but I just want to get back and get on a run of games and find a bit of form again.

“If you look at the injuries I’ve had I’ve never been out for three or four weeks, I’m either fully fit or really not. It’s just been unfortunate. That’s the way it’s been and touch wood that’ll be it behind me.”

After the shock 19-17 home loss to Cardiff, Bennett knows exactly what is required against Benetton in Treviso on Saturday afternoon to keep Edinburgh pushing for a top-three place in Conference B of the league.

“We need to go out there with a winning attitude, away at Treviso is a tough game and one we need to relish,” he said.

“They’re good, a very direct and hard team to break down. We’ve just got to go out and play our game and be really physical.

“That’s the first thing, we need to match their physicality and then from there opportunities will hopefully come.”