There’s still time to foil England’s border raid for Graham
STIRLING-BORN Gary Graham, whose dad George won 25 caps for Scotland, could make his international debut in the Six Nations. For England.
The former Gala and Scotland Under-20s player was part of Eddie Jones’ 34-man squad that met up for a pre-Six Nations get-together in Brighton earlier this week.
It’s a sad state of affairs that the England head coach has pinched him from under the nose of Gregor Townsend.
Why the Scotland head coach has been so uncharacteristically slow off the mark on this occasion is hard to fathom.
He may argue Scotland have enough quality flankers, but enough is never enough for a country that’s always only a couple of injuries away from having a crisis in key positions.
Granted, Graham (below) only made his mark over the last month or so with Newcastle Falcons, but Jones saw something in him straight away.
It’s not that the Scotland head coach hasn’t been keeping a close eye on what’s happening at the Premiership outfit.
He capped Newcastle centre Chris Harris in the autumn Tests and must have been aware of Graham’s potential.
The 25-year-old only qualifies for England through the three-year residency rule after signing first for Jersey Reds, after he left Gala, and then the Falcons, where he’s making his name.
Back when he was playing for Gala, there were no approaches or offers of a professional contract from either Edinburgh or Glasgow Warriors, which forced him south.
There have obviously been errors in allowing Graham to slip through the net and it’s embarrassing that he’s training with England rather than Scotland.
‘My job is to pick Englishqualified players,’ said Jones. ‘It doesn’t matter if they are born in Tasmania or Timbuktu. I don’t look where they are born.’ Newcastle head coach Dean Richards describes Graham as someone who ‘never takes a backward step’ and has tipped him to appear in this year’s Six Nations. He also joked that his England selection wouldn’t sit well with all of Graham’s family, no doubt with dad George firmly in mind. As well as playing for Scotland, George was assistant head coach of the national team under Frank Hadden and is currently Hawick head coach. All is not lost for Townsend, however, because until Graham pulls on an England jersey, he can switch allegiances back to Scotland. Provided, of course, he actually wants to do so. Being overlooked by the country of his birth must have been hard to take. He wouldn’t have accepted a call-up from the Auld Enemy lightly. Maybe, though, this young Scot will remain English in rugby terms for the rest of his career.