Traynor geared up for further Euro ventures in mould of model Chunk

The 22-year-old prop forward marked his first appearance in the Heineken Cup by coming from the bench after 49 minutes to help seal a 32-14 win over Castres Olympique, which helps provide further momentum for Edinburgh going into the second half of the season.

And, in becoming the 138th player to represent Edinburgh in European competition, Traynor rounded off a red-letter day for the front row fraternity.

He said: "In the dressing room beforehand Allan Jacobsen was presented with a special cap to mark making 50 appearances in Europe, all with Edinburgh.

"You never know, one day..." continued the former Watsonian captain and, as his words tailed off, it was still easily discernible that he'd love nothing more than to collected a prized piece of headgear himself.

What cannot do any harm is the fact that he has the experience of Jacobsen, nicknamed Chunk, to draw upon.

"Chunk has been good to me in passing on information both in training and out on the pitch," said Traynor, who is particularly keen to double his Euro appearances tally straight away. Traynor has been a winner on two of his three Celtic League appearances from the bench for Edinburgh – the exception came last September in the 6-52 thrashing by Leinster at the Royal Dublin Showground.

"That was not a very nice trip. Nobody likes losing. So, it would be good to go out there on Sunday and say 'hold on a minute that was a one off. It won't happen again'."

While Edinburgh can't qualify for the knockout stages they need a point for their highest finishing total for five years, while a bonus increment would see them achieve their second highest tally since first entering Europe in 1996-97.

Traynor also suggests a primary aim will be to develop further momentum for the resumption of the Celtic League which sees Edinburgh lying just five points off the lead with eight matches still remaining.

Along the way, too, Traynor is committed to trying to show that the future will be in safe hands as two of those matches occur away from home while Edinburgh's international players are on Six Nations duty.

Traynor said: "This time last year I was a national academy player and mostly turning out for Watsonians so I'm delighted things are starting to happen provided I keep on working hard to prove myself. Andy Robinson said before the Castres game that it was a chance for some to go out and show they should be starting and I look forward to going through a video of my contribution to see what I can improve on.

"I'm glad matches are being played during the Six Nations (Edinburgh have tough assignments at Munster and Llanelli] because it will give guys like myself an opportunity that has to be taken.

"Certainly there is a lot we can take forward from Castres, who were a very big and physical side. But it was said at half time we had played nearly all the rugby only to drop off a couple of tackles which allowed them to score.

"With the defence shored up, we then shut them down to the extent that, when the game opened up, some good tries were produced.

"So much so that, when our backs got into space, they looked particularly dangerous and, with the forwards continuing to give them the ball, there's every reason to hope we can kick on from here."