Gregor Townsend delay could help 88-cap forward stake claim for Nations Championship
Passion for Scotland still burns brightly for Edinburgh lock
Grant Gilchrist is hoping to be a beneficiary of Gregor Townsend’s decision to delay naming his squad for next month's Nations Championship fixtures.
The Scotland head coach had been due to reveal his selection on Tuesday this week but has pushed back the announcement until next Monday. It gives him another round of fixtures to run the rule over the various contenders.
Gilchrist, 36, has just returned from injury and came off the bench for the final 25 minutes of Edinburgh’s loss to Toulon in the European Challenge Cup on Friday. It was his first competitive rugby for over five months and he hopes to follow it up with another appearance this Friday when the capital club host the Lions at Hive Stadium in the United Rugby Championship.
Townsend will likely be in attendance and Gilchrist will be out to show his desire to represent his country burns as brightly as ever. The lock forward was given the summer off by Townsend but the break was extended when he injured his arm during training in pre-season.
I'll keep putting my hand up
“Obviously it's tough coming back in late, other guys are playing well and I'll need to play well this week,” said Gilchrist who has been capped 88 times and is targeting a fourth Rugby World Cup next year.
“I'll keep putting my hand up every time I play and keep wanting to be involved. As long as I'm playing professional rugby, I want to push to be playing for Scotland.
“I know that might not happen all the time, but I'm certainly going to try because that will bring the best out of me in Edinburgh this year and that's the goal.”
Scotland resume their Nations Championship campaign on November 4 against New Zealand at Murrayfield, and host Australia and Japan thereafter. There will then be another game against southern hemisphere opposition on Finals Weekend at Twickenham on the last weekend of the month to determine the final placings in the new tournament.
Gilchrist has his fingers crossed that playing this week for Edinburgh will help him stake his claim for Scotland.
“Yeah, hopefully,” he said. “Another game this weekend and there's obviously a game the weekend after as well [against Benetton], so getting back last week and getting some game time is obviously huge for me just to be able to have three games to put your hand up.”
Memories of Alan Solomons
He is one of a number of Scotland players just returning or about to return from injury, with Jamie Ritchie, Alex Craig, Duhan van der Merwe and Blair Kinghorn all looking to catch Townsend’s eye this weekend.
Gilchrist needed surgery on his bicep but has recovered faster than expected and is keen to make up for lost time. He has watched from the sidelines as Edinburgh have made their best start to a league season for over a decade and has been impressed, particularly by their variation in attack. They sit top of the URC standings after wins over Ulster, the Stormers and Zebre.
“I think it’s the best for about ten years,” he said. “I remember there was a season under Solly [Alan Solomons, former Edinburgh coach] where we won the first four or five [they won the first four of the 2015-16 season]
“The biggest thing you could see is the way we were moving the ball in attack. We were way less predictable than maybe we had been and it is bringing the best out of our attacking talent. That was a big difference.
“Defensively, we looked really solid as well. I think we've had that for quite a while in our DNA, but we’ve maybe added a little bit more line speed.
“I think the obvious thing is our attacking structure looks a lot more dangerous and has a lot more variety.”
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