Robin Hislop returns to Edinburgh Rugby with a point to prove after helping Saracens to Premiership glory

Nine years after leaving Edinburgh because he was impatient at the lack of opportunities, Robin Hislop is back, and with an English Premiership winner’s medal jangling in his pocket.

Robin Hislop helped Saracens beat Sale Sharks in the Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham in May. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

It feels a bit like a homecoming for the prop who has spent the intervening period plying his trade with Rotherham Titans, Doncaster Knights, Wasps and, most recently, Saracens whom he helped defeat Sale Sharks in the play-off final at Twickenham on a sun-drenched day in May. It was a glorious coda to his time in England but Hislop, 31, feels he’s still got unfinished business in Scottish rugby and is part of a major rebuild at Edinburgh who are looking to kick-start the new season against Dragons in Newport on Saturday. The loosehead is among a slew of new signings, joining Scotland internationals Ewan Ashman, Ben Healy, Javan Sebastian, Scott Steele and D’arcy Rae in a revamped squad. The 2022-23 campaign was a disappointing one for Edinburgh who finished 12th in the 16-team United Rugby Championship and there’s a new coach at the helm, with South African Sean Everitt taking over from Mike Blair.

From the outside looking in, Hislop was surprised by the way Edinburgh’s season fizzled out. He was part of the Saracens side that lost 20-14 in the capital in the Champions Cup in January, and Edinburgh also ran Sarries close at the Stonex Stadium the previous month. “It was strange,” said Hislop. “We obviously played against Edinburgh and in both games against Saracens they were very impressive.”

While Edinburgh looked good in the Champions Cup, they lost nine of their last 11 games in the URC. The aim this season is a top eight finish and progress in Europe.

Nine years after leaving Edinburgh, Robin Hislop has rejoined the club and is pictured at the 'Picnic on the Pitch' event at Hive Stadium. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

“We definitely want to make the play-offs and it’s unfortunate we’re not in the Champions Cup but that gives us a great opportunity to kick on and hopefully get into the later stages of the Challenge Cup,” said Hislop who will look to transfer some of the winning mentality he picked up at Saracens. “I’ve always been pretty competitive but that was definitely enhanced last season. Training was intense down there, they set such a high standard, and hopefully I can bring a little bit of that to Edinburgh.”

The Dumfries-born Hislop’s time in England was spent initially in the Championship before he moved to the top flight with Wasps. The club’s financial collapse hit everyone hard, another chapter in what has been an occasionally bumpy ride for the prop who came through the ranks at Edinburgh and was capped by Scotland at under-17, 18 and 20 level before pursuing his career south of the border.

“It was class to play in the Prem but I still feel I’ve got a bit to prove up here,” said Hislop who was speaking as Edinburgh launched a new partnership with Hive at the first-ever Picnic on the Pitch event at Hive Stadium. “I played here when I was younger but I probably didn’t appreciate it. I just wanted to play every week and I thought I was good enough at the time. Then I broke my leg and when I came back from that there weren’t as many opportunities which I found massively frustrating. So I took the opportunity to go on loan and didn’t really look back. I started in the Championship and planned to get out of there pretty quick but it took a few more years but to finish off winning the Prem was incredible.

“It was really sad what happened at Wasps. I was very fortunate to pick up the Saracens gig. It was an unbelievable place to play and culture to be involved in so it was a nice way to finish down there. It’s a proper, special club.”

The aim now is to restore some lustre to Edinburgh whose squad is stuffed full of talent but who underachieved last season after an impressive 2021-22 campaign, Blair’s first at the helm. It was Blair who agreed the deal to bring Hislop back on a two-year contract but, shortly after, the coach announced his intention to step down and is now working in Japan with Kobe Steelers.

“I guess it is a little bit frustrating because I knew Mike pretty well but it’s outwith my control,” said Hislop. “And I’ve been really impressed with Sean so far. The club needs some continuity so hopefully we can kick on and Sean can be here for a few years.”

Hislop knows forwards coach Stevie Lawrie from playing alongside him and there are a few familiar faces in the squad, notably Hamish Watson and Grant Gilchrist. “Me, Hamish and Gilco came through the academy together and I played with Glen Young at Doncaster.”

Watson and Gilchrist are among the 14 Edinburgh players who were part of the Scotland squad at the World Cup. In addition, Emiliano Boffelli and Viliame Mata are still out in France having helped Argentina and Fiji, respectively, reach the knockout stage. It means Edinburgh will begin the new URC without many of their World Cup players and the onus will be on senior pros like Hislop to step up. He played down talk of his own international ambitions but was called into the Scotland squad in 2021 for the eastern European tour that was cancelled due to Covid and the autumn Test against Australia later that year. His priority, he said, was Edinburgh.

“I’ve been in a couple of camps. I think Scotland are very fortunate, they’ve got some really good looseheads. When I say I’ve got a point to prove coming back here, I just want to play for Edinburgh, week in, week out. We’ve got some really good looseheads here as well, so I just want to play for Edinburgh and, you know, if you’re in Scotland things can happen really quickly but I haven’t thought too much about that to be honest, I’m just excited to play for Edinburgh.”