After a northerly odyssey, Haining finally hits home
● Aussie-born No 8 hopes to stay at Edinburgh and earn more caps
After a dynamic start to his time with Edinburgh that has seen him make his Test debut, Nick Haining believes he has found his long-term rugby home.
Northwards and upwards has been the story of the No 8’s career so far, from Western Force in his native Australia, to the Jersey Reds to Bristol Bears and on to Edinburgh.
An academy player who never made the grade with the Force’s senior side, Haining became one of the outstanding players in the English Championship, and is now a key member of an Edinburgh squad that has risen to the top of Conference B in the Pro14 as well as reaching the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup.
At 29 he may be a late developer, but he has made up for lost time since joining Richard Cockerill’s squad last summer. He has another season on his Edinburgh contract, although as things stand he would certainly like to settle here for far longer.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far – it’s been a great year,” Haining said. “With everything that’s happened with myself, I’ve really enjoyed it. I don’t know how long that [the remainder of his career] will be – if it will be two years or three years or what – but I’m 29 now, so... I don’t know, we’ll have to see, but yeah, I would like to see out my career here if I could.
“I think I’ve definitely progressed since I’ve been here. I’m always trying to improve in everything and I’m sure every other player is as well. But I think everything I’ve learned since being here from Cockers, from Gregor, everyone in the Scotland squad, all my teammates – I think you’re continually progressing.”
Haining, who qualifies for Scotland through a Dundonian grandmother, was one of half a dozen uncapped players named by national coach Gregor Townsend, pictured, last month in his initial training squad for the Six Nations. After being earmarked for a place on the bench for the opening match against Ireland, he was named in the starting 15 when Edinburgh team-mate Magnus Bradbury had to withdraw through injury.
With Bradbury restored to fitness and back in the team, Haining was a substitute for the Calcutta Cup match, but dropped out of the
23 to play Italy when Glasgow’s Matt Fagerson also became match-fit again after injury.
Given how well he played, he could regard himself as unfortunate to be dropped, but rather than dwelling on his demotion prefers to take the positives from the experience and hope that his chance comes again in next month’s two remaining Championship matches against France and Wales. “It was a big surprise to actually start in the Ireland game,” he said. “I was quite nervous at the time as well. No, I just felt like I enjoyed playing those games – I didn’t play that much in the England game, but that’s just the way it goes. “There were obviously a few things to work on as well – being my first international caps, there’s always stuff to work on. But I was quite happy with the games, and moving forward I’ll hopefully get another shot.
“I’ve learned a lot since we’ve been there. It’s a very accelerated learning sort of thing – you have to go in and learn everything very quickly. But it’s helped with having all the Edinburgh boys around, getting to know everyone as well.”
It is a measure of Haining’s impact that he has still only played ten games for Edinburgh.
That number should rise to 11 appearances tomorrow when Cardiff are the visitors, with many more to follow in the years to come if he does indeed decide he has found his rugby home.
“It was a big surprise to actually start in the Ireland game. I was quite nervous at the time as well. [But] I just felt like I enjoyed playing those games”
NICK HAINING