The flanker: Edinburgh seek Dutch of class in Newcastle's 6ft 5in winger

WITH Sean Lamont due to play his rugby in west Wales for the Scarlets next season, Edinburgh now have their sights set on the Falcons' Dutch winger Tim Visser who has played 21 times and scored five tries for Newcastle this season.

He is quick, boasts good footwork and is 6ft 5in which would certainly give Andy Robinson the sort of physical impact he is looking for in the back three. Visser could be the new Jonah….No! Don't even think about it. In other news last week Gloucester released Scotti

IF ANDY Robinson is the favourite to replace Frank Hadden the problem remains of what to do with Mike Brewer. The uncompromising Scotland forwards coach is already rumoured to have had more than one stand-up row with Robinson and if the latter gets the gig he is unlikely to want Brewer sitting beside him. Presuming the former All Black misses out on the top job it appears that he may well be handed the reins at Edinburgh. Stand back and watch the sparks fly.

WHAT'S eating Rob Flockhart? This amiable character was heading up a working party investigating the role of the SRU president but, according to one source, his party failed to come to an agreement on the central issue of whether the president should automatically chair the council (and therefore sit on the Board). Flockhart put forward the arguments and suggested that the SRU ask the clubs to decide at the AGM. If the Board ever agreed to this they subsequently changed their mind and Flockhart, having assured the clubs that the SRU would put forward the motion, has now had to resign his position despite many people trying to dissuade him.

One Murrayfield official called it a communication misunderstanding. The motion on the role of the president may still be put to the AGM by a club or clubs but the question remains as to why the Board set up an independent review and then ignored its recommendations.

EDINBURGH beat the Ospreys last Saturday down at the Liberty Stadium. With the Lions looking for a replacement scrum-half this should have been good news for Mike Blair. It wasn't. It's desperately unfair on a player who counts his season's missed tackles on the fingers of one hand but midway through the first half opposition scrum-half Mike Philips lined up Blair one-on-one and bumped him backwards. The Scot was left on his backside, nursing his pride and mulling how lonely a crowded rugby field can be when things don't go your way. With Ian McGeechan putting the emphasis on physicality over all else Blair may have all summer long to rue that missed tackle.