Emiliano Boffelli update is good news for Edinburgh fans as Mike Blair says: 'He’ll have a chance'

Emiliano Boffelli is a huge favourite with the Edinburgh support and the good news for fans of the capital club is that the Argentine international has a chance of featuring against the Lions at the DAM Health Stadium on Friday.

Emiliano Boffelli enjoyed an outstanding first season at Edinburgh. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

The former Racing 92 player has missed the first three matches of the United Rugby Championship season due to his commitments with the Pumas in the Rugby Championship but he is back in Scotland and will return to training on Tuesday.

Equally comfortable on the wing or at full-back, Boffelli adds the X-factor for Edinburgh and is also their frontline goalkicker.

Mike Blair will assess the player this week before making a decision but the signs are positive

Emiliano Boffelli helped Argentina beat New Zealand in the Rugby Championship. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)

“We’ll see how he is on Tuesday,” said the Edinburgh coach. “He got through the internationals very well, played well. Doesn’t appear to have come back with any injury issues at all. We’ve got training and we’ll see how he integrates back into the group.

“I saw most of his games in the Rugby Championship and he’s playing with a lot of confidence at the moment. His goalkicking has been excellent over the piece and his high ball work has been good too. He’s been able to get his hands on the ball a bit more which is great. He’ll come back to us with lots of confidence.”

Asked about the prospect of facing the Lions, Blair added: “Yeah. He’ll have a chance to play on Friday.”

It is another tilt at South African opposition for Edinburgh who have just returned from the republic where they lost to the Stormers and Bulls, last season’s URC finalists.

They will look to shake off their jet lag and return to winning ways at the DAM Health against a Lions team chasing a third victory in a row in Europe, having beaten Cardiff and Ospreys.

“The home games are really important to us,” said Blair. “We built a lot of momentum through our home fixtures last year, not losing until the end of the season.

“The guys love playing at home with the crowd getting behind us so we want to give them something to cheer about. The weather is looking pretty windy at the moment. It’s going to be a tough week for training but we’ve got to find a way to take on this South Africa team and come out with the points.”

The Lions were the poor relations of the South African sides in the URC last season, finishing 12th, but have started the season well under Ivan van Rooyen and Blair has been impressed.

“They’ve just got this never-say-die attitude about them,” said the Edinburgh coach. “They’re a really cohesive group who work really hard for each other and have sprinklings of stardust in there as well.

“Like the Stormers and the Bulls they’re a big physical side. You’ve got to be able to match them and get at least parity in the set-piece. And then look to be smart around how you manipulate them. They’ve made good strikes.

“They were good last year and very difficult to beat at home in Johannesburg. We felt that we could have done a little bit better out there. But they’re certainly a team playing with cohesion and confidence at the moment.”