Edinburgh bring in stand-off from Pumas

EDINBURGH have swooped for another stand-off as they bid to maintain the recent improvement and push up the RaboDirect PRO12 league, but he will not feature against Glasgow this week.

Carl Bezuidenhout, the 27-year-old Pumas stand-off, has only so far made it to international level in South Africa in the sevens arena, but he has been one of the leading lights of the game at the level below and is well known to Edinburgh coach Alan Solomons. Edinburgh have lost all three stand-offs to injury, Harry Leonard recently joining Gregor Hunter and Piers Francis on the sidelines, though Leonard is expected to be back within the next fortnight.

Solomons last week signed Tony Fenner, an English flyhalf he worked with in South Africa, on a month’s trial and at the weekend Bezuidenhout arrived on a contract until the end of this season. He took part in his first training session at Murrayfield yesterday and came through a fitness test, but it is too soon for him to go into the squad for tomorrow evening’s 1872 Cup return match with Glasgow at Scotstoun, just two months after finishing his season in South Africa.

Solomons said: “Carl [Bezuidenhout] has performed really well for the Pumas and played a pivotal role in their Currie Cup success this year.

“His game management is very good, he’s got a good boot out of hand and for goal, and is very athletic. He now has an excellent opportunity to show us what he is capable of, while also solving an immediate issue in that we are desperately short of fly-halves. We will have to see how he tracks for us but I think he has the ability.”

Greig Tonks, who joined Edinburgh from Northampton, has shown his versatility in moving from full-back to stand-off with aplomb and he is expected to continue in the pivotal role with Fenner primed for his first appearance off the bench.

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