HIDALGO-CLYNE HAS POINT TO PROVE

BENETTON might do well to beware the wounded pride of Edinburgh’s SamHidalgo-Clyne this weekend. It was off the back of a try-scoring display against the Italians in 2015 that Hidalgo-Clyne first took the Scotland No 9 jersey from Greig Laidlaw. Since then, however, he has slipped back behind not only Laidlaw but Henry Pyrgos and Ali Price. When he missed out on Gregor Townsend’s squad for the autumn Tests this week, he also found himself behind Edinburgh team-mate Nathan Fowles, one of ten uncapped selections. As he prepares to lead Edinburgh’s Pro14 attack in Italy tomorrow, he admitted Townsend’s call left him with a heavy heart. ‘It’s obviously very disappointing. I’ve just got to grit my teeth and get on with it,’ he said. ‘I got a call from Gregor and it was nice of him to give me feedback on what he thought. ‘He told me I was playing my best rugby of the season but also told me what he wanted and expects from all the scrum-halves, and things I need to work on. I’ll keep much of that to myself but Gregor has made it quite clear what he’s looking for. ‘He’s wanting to play the fastest tempo rugby in the world and you look at the players he’s going to put into that team and you see what he wants.’ Richard Cockerill’s side will be looking to avenge last month’s 20-17 home defeat to Benetton tomorrow. ‘This is an important game for everyone,’ said Hidalgo-Clyne. ‘We fell short to them at home, more through our own mistakes, but they’ve improved vastly in the last couple of seasons.’