Rob Moffat underlined the importance of Edinburgh’s back-up game against Glasgow Warriors at Meggetland on Monday evening (4 February, kick off 7pm) because he believes it will help the club unearth the next John Houston.
The Edinburgh assistant coach has selected a squad for the match that contains four club players, including Ben Cairns’ brother.
And Moffat is adamant the fixture is far from meaningless and gives club players a prime opportunity to showcase their skills to ultimately win a professional contract.
Moffat said: “It is very important that we bridge the gap between the club sides and the professional teams. The only difficulty with these games is determining when you play them and how you fit them in.
“We would have liked to have played one or two boys who are playing in the club international next Friday, but it is impractical to do that because of logistics. But because we can’t play them it will give somebody else a chance.
“The centre of Edinburgh Accies, Ruaridh Bonnar perhaps might not have played but he just missed out on the Scotland Under-20’s, so it gives him a chance to play at another level past the club.
“I am big supporter of the club game, but club players need something else to strive for; that is just natural. Normally people play for a club and then they have the opportunity to play district or higher. So it gives these players a chance to play at a higher level.”
As a result of the international break, Moffat believes Edinburgh’s squad players require much-needed game time in order to hit the ground running when the Magners League schedule resumes on 15 February against Munster.
He added: “For our squad players, this is a very important game. The players have had a week off since we played Toulouse and we’ve got Munster on 15 February, so we needed a game.
“We are going to play Glasgow again on 10 March in another back-up match and that will give an opportunity to one or two players, who have performed well for their clubs.
“It gives us a chance to have a look at them. It is a two-way process because we have had a number of our players playing club rugby and this is a chance for the club players to play for Edinburgh.”
The back line will see a familiar surname in the ranks should Currie player Mark Cairns get the nod to come off the bench at Meggetland.
As the older brother of Scotland A centre Ben, Mark has got a good rugby pedigree and Moffat admits he deserves his chance.
He said: “Mark Cairns is a good player and he plays for Currie. He has been a consistent performer for them for a while; maybe he will try and emulate his younger brother.
“It is a huge positive for players in the club game because you have a huge number of players that have been handed a professional contract. The likes of John Houston, Andy Turnbull and Mark Robertson all played club rugby last year.
“I was speaking to a player at Heriot’s called Marc Teague, who would have played, but he is involved in the club international. He was saying that over recent years he has played alongside Nick De Luca, Matt Dey and John Houston so it gives him hope that the professional teams are watching and that players can progress.”
