‘Every player’s dream’ - Darcy Graham reveals ultimate ambition but Edinburgh and Scotland come first

Injuries conspired to wreck Darcy Graham’s season but the Scotland winger is fully recovered, recuperated and ready for the new campaign which has at its conclusion the tantalising carrot of a British and Irish Lions tour.

The 27-year-old is not getting ahead of himself and knows he has first to perform with Edinburgh and then Scotland, but there is no disguising his ambition to travel to Australia and wear the famous red jersey.

He sees the Lions as the pinnacle of the sport but Leinster on Friday night is the priority as he looks to help Edinburgh make a winning start to the new United Rugby Championship season.

Edinburgh's Darcy Graham is fit and raring to go for the new URC season. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

“I’m not one for looking forward, I like to stay present, one week at a time,” he said. “But that’s every player’s dream, to play for their country and play for the British and Irish Lions, so I'm not going to stand here and say I don't want to be doing that. It’s something I’d love to strive to achieve.

“But it’s just about getting things right with Edinburgh and then Scotland and if I play well in both of them hopefully it comes on the back of it. You don't get anything bigger than that do you? Being a Lion is huge.”

Graham featured in just four matches for Edinburgh last season but made his comeback by playing the first half of Friday’s pre-season win over Gloucester. It was his first game in eight months and he marked the occasion with a trademark try in the corner. Sean Everitt, his coach, later described Graham as “one of the best wingers in the world” and the words meant a lot after his battle with knee, hip, thigh and groin injuries over the last couple of seasons.

“Obviously coming from your head coach it’s a real nice compliment and to have that backing from him is massive, but I don’t let it go to the head too much,” said Graham.

Darcy Graham marked his comeback from injury with a try for Edinburgh in the pre-season friendly against Gloucester at Hive Stadium. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)

“I prepped in training for the whole pre-season so I knew coming back into the game I was going to be fine. It’s now just about getting that confidence back in and going into the contact. That’s probably the big thing - carrying. When you’re out of the game for a while you’re watching it and it’s so fast, it's so physical, the boys are massive and you forget a bit. So going back into it is a bit daunting. For me you just have to get stuck into it, and those 40 minutes were really good for me.”

Edinburgh missed Graham badly last season as they finished 10th in the URC. Scotland could also have done with his pace, creativity and try-scoring nous and the hope is both can now benefit from a injury-free run. As the player himself says: “I can’t get much more bad luck”.

Waking up pain-free still feels like a novelty for Graham whose body has been put through the wringer since he suffered a knee injury against Munster in December 2022. A screw was inserted in the joint but caused him such pain that it had to be removed last year. He is feeling the benefit of that and a summer off which allowed him to prepare for the new season.

“I do feel better than I did before, but it's weird now: I wake up and I'm still still getting out of bed going, ‘what part of my body is going to be sore today?’ But no, I feel really good. It’s a bit of a shock, and it feels nice, waking up and not having to take painkillers or anti-inflammatories. It’s so much better for me.”

At a push, he probably could have gone on Scotland’s summer tour to North and South America but by staying at home he gave himself more time to rest ahead of what is sure to be a busy season which begins with the first block of URC games, is followed by Scotland’s autumn Test series, then continues with the URC and Challenge Cup before the Six Nations begins in February.

“Looking back at it, it was frustrating not to be going [on the Scotland tour],” he said. “But then in the grand scheme of things it was the right thing for me. I sat down with the coaches and spoke about it, and I would have been going on tour just straight out of rehab. I hadn't even had a full week of training at that point, so it would have been putting my body under extra stress which wasn't needed.

“If it had been a different tour away to New Zealand, South Africa, Australia or something, it's totally different. This tour, I think the boys loved it, it was a good experience but as you've seen in the results, it wasn't a big one to go to and it was probably the right one to miss. Hopefully that sets me really well going into the season.”

Scotland overpowered Canada, USA, Chile and Uruguay in the summer and the tour saw Duhan van der Merwe become Scotland’s all-time leading try-scorer. Van der Merwe’s tries against the US and Uruguay took his tally to 28, one ahead of Stuart Hogg and four more than Graham.

“He knows I'm breathing down his neck,” smiled Graham. “But I’m not looking at that just yet, I want to get back in, play for Edinburgh, get 80 minutes under my belt hopefully this week and get it firing and just keep doing what I do and hopefully that Scotland call up comes back.

“You never know when your last game is going to be, it sounds cliched but you never know, one injury could finish your career. So it's just about enjoying the moments and taking a week at a time.”