Marquee Edinburgh signing Wes Goosen picks up injury and will miss opening URC matches

Wes Goosen joined Edinburgh from the Hurricanes but he will have to wait for his debut.

The winger, a marquee signing from the New Zealand-based Hurricanes, picked up a calf injury in training.

Edinburgh open their United Rugby Championship campaign on Saturday week at home to the Dragons, then head to South Africa to play back-to-back fixtures against the Bulls and the Stormers, before returning home to host the Lions and Benetton.

The latter fixture is scheduled for October 15 and could mark the debut of Goosen, a former All Blacks Under-20 international.

The better news for Edinburgh is that No 8 Viliame Mata has returned to full training having been out since December last year with a serious knee injury. Tighthead prop Luan de Bruin is also said to be “progressing well” as he rehabs a hamstring injury and is expected to return to training “in the coming weeks”.

Mike Blair’s side face Benetton in Italy on Friday in their final pre-season friendly before the new URC campaign kicks off.

Edinburgh lost 34-26 at home to London Scottish last week in a match that was abandoned with six minutes remaining when a fire alarm was accidently set off at the DAM Health Stadium, causing the ground to be evacuated.

The game saw the long awaited return of flanker Jamie Ritchie who had been out since rupturing his hamstring while playing for Scotland in the Calcutta Cup win over England on February 5. Ritchie played the first 30 minutes against London Scottish.

Full-back Henry Immelman also made his comeback after missing the end of last season with a knee injury.