WP Nel and Hamish Watson to return for Edinburgh and Scotland

Edinburgh's Hamish Watson is pleased to be back in training. Picture: SNS

Watson, the 27-year-old back-row, has been out since 18 January with a fractured hand suffered against Montpellier in the Heineken Champions Cup pool match. Tighthead prop Nel, 32, has not played since he picked up a calf injury on international duty against Italy on 2 February.

With Scotland needing a boost ahead of their matches with Wales on 9 March and England seven days later, the return of the men with 23 and 27 caps respectively will be welcomed by national coach Gregor Townsend.

Both players have been training with Edinburgh this week ahead of Saturday’s important Guinness Pro14 match at Benetton, and club head coach Richard Cockerill said: “I am hoping WP Nel will have some time [against Benetton] and be available for Scotland the week after. There is a good chance Hamish Watson will be the same.”

Willem Nel has been missed by Scotland. Picture: SNS

Rounds four and five of the Six Nations will come too soon for another two Scotland caps, John Barclay and Matt Scott, but they are making good progress as they battle back from a ruptured Achilles and a concussion issue, respectively.

Indeed, the back-row and centre could be in contention for the Pro14 match with Leinster on 22 March and, if all goes well, the European Champions Cup quarter-final against Munster eight days later.

“Matt Scott is training fully and we are hoping he will be back for Leinster, John Barclay is starting to train into units and teams so he is starting to make really good progress,” Cockerill said. “John may well look to come back for Leinster as well.”

For this weekend’s game full-back Dougie Fife should recover from a head knock in time to play while second-row Ben Toolis, winger Darcy Graham, scrum-half Henry Pyrgos and centre Chris Dean should all be available.

One man causing a bit of bother is winger Duhan van der Merwe though. The big South African is nursing a nasty gash on his knee cap which could take a few more days to heal.

With the contract of key man Viliame Mata extended until 2021 earlier this week, Cockerill’s attentions have now turned to players such as Watson and Pyrgos, and making sure they re-sign past May this year.

“All the lads we want to keep are all in process to stay, as simple as that,” the Englishman said. “We’re a long way down the road of getting those guys sorted for the future.

“We need to be better, because we’ve lost games which we shouldn’t lose, which makes the end of season very, very hard for us. This group has been together for 21 months, and we’ve got to improve, parts of this season have been very good, but other parts haven’t been good enough.

“Obviously the squad has been tested during the Autumn Tests and the Six Nations, however there are games which we should have closed out and won, last weekend against Cardiff [they lost 19-17 after leading 17-0] being a very good example.

“We’ve got to get better and win those ugly games that you need to win through tough periods, because recent losses have left us needing to go to Italy and win this weekend to keep our play-off hopes alive.”

Meanwhile, Edinburgh have confirmed the appointment of former player Steve Lawrie to the club’s coaching staff for next season. Lawrie joins from Tennent’s Premiership side Watsonians where he has been head coach for two years.

He will now take up the position of assistant forwards coach at the pro club in the summer, replacing Roddy Grant who is heading to Ulster.

Former Scotland hooker Lawrie said: “I’m hugely excited by the opportunity to re-join Edinburgh as a member of the coaching staff and to work alongside Richard Cockerill and the rest of the on-field team. I can’t wait to get started.”

As a result of the appointment, Watsonians are now conducting a thorough search for a new head coach ahead of the inaugural Super 6 season.