Wes Goosen likened to Darcy Graham as Edinburgh face Zebre without 10 Scotland internationals

With 10 Scotland internationals unavailable due to the forthcoming autumn Tests and another five players missing through injury and illness Edinburgh have had to dig deep for Saturday’s URC match against Zebre in Italy.

Wes Goosen has overcome ankle and calf injuries and will make his Edinburgh Rugby debut in Parma. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

There are first competitive outings for Wes Goosen and Nick Auterac and the side has a strong spine of non-Scots such as Henry Immelman, Emiliano Boffelli, Boan Venter, Luan de Bruin and Bill Mata, the latter making his landmark 100th appearance for the club on the occasion of his 31st birthday. Nick Haining and Sam Skinner have been allowed to play, despite being named in Gregor Townsend’s Scotland squad, and there are also appearances for Matt Currie, Chris Dean, Jaco van der Walt, Charlie Shiel, Adam McBurney, Jamie Hodgson and Luke Crosbie as Edinburgh seek to kick on from last weekend’s impressive thrashing of Benetton in the capital.

But they will have to do so without Mark Bennett, Dave Cherry, Grant Gilchrist, Darcy Graham, Blair Kinghorn, WP Nel, Jamie Ritchie, Pierre Schoeman, Duhan van der Merwe and Hamish Watson. “I think it’s the case that we’ve got strength in depth there,” said Stevie Lawrie, the club’s forwards coach. “We knew there was a [Scotland] game outwith the [Test] window, so we recognised that we needed to plan for this game. Even looking at the back three, with Emiliano Boffelli, Wes Goosen coming in for his first start and Henry Immelman - you’ve got a lot of quality there. So I’m excited to see those guys go, and Bill Mata’s 100th on his birthday.”

Goosen, signed from the Hurricanes, is fleet of foot and Lawrie has likened him to Darcy Graham, Edinburgh’s prize asset this season with eight tries in five games. It’s a bold claim but the South African-born wing is ready to go after shaking off ankle and calf issues. “Anybody who watched him at the Hurricanes will know that he's a bit of a Darcy Graham, a pocket rocket with good footwork and a lot of energy,” said Lawrie. “It looks like the weather will be nice enough in Parma, not much wind and about 18 degrees, it would be lovely to have some plays that allow him to get ball in hand.”

Nick Auterac is a house music devotee. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Auterac is named on the bench and should appear early in the second half. The loosehead prop joined Edinburgh following his release by Northampton but has found his path to the team blocked by Pierre Schoeman and Boan Venter. A devotee of house music, Auterac has added a little leftfield thinking to the Edinburgh squad, something of which Lawrie approves.

“I like weird,” said the coach. “I don't like arrogance, but I don't mind people who are a bit alternative. He is certainly in that bracket. He brings a different approach, good chat. I'm pleased for him because he is someone we targeted and signed. He is Scottish qualified and he played well in the pre-season games. Just because Schoeman and Venter have played well this season, he's not had his chance. He now gets that and I'm excited to see him go because he has come in and added value to the environment with how he has been, but also how he has trained and actually played in the two pre-season games.”

Zebre Parma v Edinburgh Rugby (URC, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Saturday, 1pm BST. Live on Premier Sports)

Zebre: 15. Lorenzo Pani; 14. Pierre Bruno, 13. Tommaso Boni, 12. Damiano Mazza, 11. Jacopo Trulla; 10. Tiff Eden, 9. Alessandro Fusco; 1. Juan Pitinari, 2. Marco Manfredi, 3. Ion Neculai, 4. David Sisi ©, 5. Leonard Krumov, 6. Luca Andreani, 7. MJ Pelser, 8. Taina Fox-Matamua.

Replacements: 16. Luca Bigi, 17. Luca Rizzoli, 18. Muhamed Hasa, 19. Andrea Zambonin, 20. Gabriele Venditti, 21. Chris Cook, 22. Geronimo Prisciantelli, 23. Richard Kriel.

Edinburgh: 15. Henry Immelman; 14. Wes Goosen, 13. Matt Currie, 12. Chris Dean, 11. Emiliano Boffelli; 10. Jaco van der Walt, 9. Charlie Shiel; 1. Boan Venter, 2. Adam McBurney, 3. Luan de Bruin, 4. Jamie Hodgson, 5. Sam Skinner, 6. Nick Haining, 7. Luke Crosbie ©, 8. Viliame Mata.

Replacements: 16. Patrick Harrison, 17. Nick Auterac, 18. Angus Williams, 19. Pierce Phillips, 20. Ben Muncaster, 21. Henry Pyrgos, 22. Charlie Savala, 23. Damien Hoyland.