Graham has point to prove

WHEN Darcy Graham collected the ball around the half-way line against Australia last year, it turned out to be the moment that highlighted both the promise of Scotland’s young rugby players and one of the reasons why they so often struggle.

The way Graham left his wouldbe tackler floundering before accelerating smoothly away to score one of the solo tries of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship – a moment that laid the platform for a breakthrough win over the Junior Wallabies – demonstrated the talent.

Minutes later, however, he was injured and missed the rest of the tournament. He was not alone, as key player after key player dropped out and by the time the same teams met again, this time fighting for seventh spot in the seedings, it was no contest as Australia romped home. Talent is not enough; you need lots of it.

“Last year was tough – just with me being the young boy,” he recalled. “I got a head knock and that ruled me out of the whole championship. I was down but learned a lot.”

As the team prepare to face another Southern Hemisphere giant – New Zealand – on Wednesday in the opening game of this year’s tournament in Georgia, they know it is not just a question of performance, they also have to avoid last year’s carnage on the injury front.

“We’re taking it a game at a time, see how the results come and injury-wise how we get through that. Then we head into games against Ireland and Italy. We got beaten by Ireland by one point in the Six Nations so we want to get one over them,” said Graham.

“New Zealand – we know what they are like. A lot of them have played Super Rugby but we had Australia last year and came out with a win. It’s a big game.”

Every year, the Under-20s offer a snapshot of what to expect in two or three years. The Ireland and England teams that reached last year’s World final are already feeding players into their professional levels and the national sides.

Graham is one of those with points to prove. He shone, briefly, a year ago, and now he is aiming to make his mark before starting his first professional contract with Edinburgh. “I’ve a long way to go before then. World Cup then pre-season so a long way to go,” he said.