New dad Stuart McInally buzzing for Edinburgh’s rebirth in Europe

After a whirlwind weekend in which he became a father for the first time, Stuart McInally is hoping to toast the birth of son Oliver in style with a win over La Rochelle in the Heineken Champions Cup.

Edinburgh have a good recent record against French clubs and Stuart McInally, centre, is pictured with Willem Nel, left, and Pierre Schoeman after the win over Toulon in 2019.

The Edinburgh hooker was in Ireland with the Scotland squad when he got the call to tell him about dramatic developments on the homefront.

A quick sprint to the airport saw him catch the redeye back to Edinburgh and he arrived just in time for the birth.

McInally missed Scotland’s defeat at the Aviva but was by wife Natalie’s side for the big moment.

New dad Stuart McInally is relishing Edinburgh's return to the Heineken Cup Champions Cup. Picture: Ross Parker/SNS

“I was in Dublin when it all started to happen,” he explained. “The due date was last Friday, the fourth, so I had a conversation with my wife about going. We knew there would be flights back so she was happy for me to go in the hope that the baby would be a couple of days late.

“So I flew to Ireland on the Thursday and then on the Friday about 2am Natalie phoned me to tell me her waters had broken and there was a flight home at 6.30am.

“But I remember I was still really tired and thinking I would phone James Robson [the Scotland team doctor]. And she’s asking me, ‘why are you phoning James?’ – you need to come back! So I phoned the team manager to let him know and got to the airport.

“Just before I got on the flight Nat’s dad called to say he’d taken her to the hospital. So I landed and went straight to the hospital and at 11.20 on Friday morning we had a baby boy, Oliver. It was an amazing experience and I’m so glad I made it back. What a day and what a story!”

McInally is now getting used to sleepless nights, along with a few others in the squad.

“It’s true - you get absolutely no sleep. We’re still trying to figure it out. There are so many boys at the club who have got young children at the moment. Everyone has got similar stories, so it’s reassuring to know that’s just the way it is.

“I find myself not needing as much sleep now because I’ve still got the buzz to get home and see him. He definitely puts a smile on my face.”

McInally returned to training on Tuesday as preparations ramped up for the visit of La Rochelle on Saturday.

It’s a tough draw for the capital club who have also been paired with Sale Sharks. La Rochelle are top of the Top 14 but Edinburgh tend to do well against French clubs. Two years ago, in their last appearance in the Champions Cup, they reached the quarter-finals after topping a group containing Montpellier and Toulon. It’s a trend McInally thinks they can maintain.

“We’ve not spoken too much about benchmarks or goals,” said the hooker. “We have to be realistic as we’re just back in the competition and we’ve got a tough run of fixtures.

“But we have a great history in this tournament against French and English teams. And we’ll back ourselves to win any game. If we could get to another quarter-final, then how good would that be? From past experience we know it can happen.”

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