Dean has silverware in his sights as he prepares for milestone match
EDINBURGH centre Chris Dean will follow esteemed company into the club’s 150-cap club this weekend, and he’s over the moon to have hit the milestone after almost a decade at the club.
While not one of the squad’s household names, the former Scotland Sevens man is an everreliable option, more commonly at inside centre but this season also on the wing.
He’s on the bench for the trip to Cardiff having started in the No.12 jersey in last week’s bonus-point win over Scarlets, while he featured on the left wing in the Challenge Cup defeat to Sharks.
While admitting his changing role has been a challenge, Dean said he’s happy to put his hand up for selection in any position.
Dean said: “Sean [Everitt, head coach] joked that usually as you get older you move in the way, but maybe I’ve still got a bit of life in the legs. I believe my best position is inside centre but you have to do the job that’s asked of you.
“Every time I take the field, whatever position, I aim to do the best I can for the club.”
The high point of Dean’s Edinburgh career was the 2018/19 season, when he forged a formidable midfield partnership with another former Scotland Sevens man, James Johnstone, and helped the club to the Champions Cup quarter-finals.
Dean, whose rugby journey started at North Berwick RFC, was called into the Scotland squad for the 2019 Six Nations. That elusive cap has evaded him thus far, and now 30, Dean is realistic about his future prospects.
“As you get older, those opportunities become harder and there has to be a bit of a changing of the guard,” he said. “If I was able to string a good set of games together, you never know. I would never say never and the dream is always there.”
Without international honours to celebrate, the former Edinburgh Academy pupil is keen to make the most of his club accolade.
He will surpass Marcus di Rollo as Edinburgh’s most-capped centre, while joining the likes of Grant Gilchrist, WP Nel, Chris Paterson, Ross Ford and Mike Blair in the 150-cap club.
Dean added: “I am incredibly proud to reach 150 games. If you’d suggested to me when I started 10 games ago, I’d have laughed, but it is a privilege to have played as many times as I have. It’s crazy to think my name is up there with these guys. There are a lot of them I grew up watching and idolised, and great names who have become great friends. To join the club is certainly a special thing. To think I’ll be the most-capped centre to represent the club is certainly something I can be massively proud of.”
Putting his own milestone to one side, Dean knows Edinburgh must return from the Welsh capital with a win – and ideally a bonus point – to maintain their push for the play-offs.
“The firm focus is on getting the result at the weekend,” he said.
The centre is one of only a handful of players along with Gilchrist and Nel who were around for the run to the 2015 Challenge Cup final, where they lost to Gloucester.
He believes the experiences earned by a couple of Scotland internationalists elsewhere can help Edinburgh to take that next step and win a first major trophy.
“Recruiting guys like Ben Healy, he knows what it’s like to win the URC with Munster, and Sam Skinner, he’s won the Champions Cup and the Premiership and got a huge amount of experience with Exeter – that is a great shift in mentality.”