MARK Bennett has a golden opportunity to celebrate his latest contract extension with Edinburgh in style, by helping guide the capital side to glory over former club Glasgow Warriors in Saturday’s high-stakes 1872 Cup clash at Murrayfield.
The 29-year-old centre made the switch eastward along the M8 in 2017 after being deemed surplus to requirements by former Scotstoun head coach Dave Rennie – but a combination of injury, his own form and Edinburgh’s limited game-plan under Richard Cockerill means he has unfinished business to take care of in terms of really showing his old club what a mistake they made in letting him go.
Bennett has been given a new lease of life at club level this season thanks to the more liberated approach to the game championed by new head coach Mike Blair, and he has started to rediscover the form which led to him being shortlisted for World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year award in 2015 before becoming an Olympic silver medallist with the Team GB sevens side in 2016.
“It’s a great place to be, we are playing some brilliant flowing rugby and building a great home at DAM Health Stadium,” said Bennett, after putting pen to paper on a deal for the now customary undisclosed period of time.
“I’m really happy to be staying at Edinburgh Rugby. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else."
Edinburgh need to win Saturday’s match to book their place in next year’s European Champions Cup, and if they can overcome a 13-point deficit from their defeat to Glasgow in March then they will also reclaim the 1872 Cup.
“This Saturday’s match is huge with regards to the play-offs and Europe next season,” added Bennett. “There’s no better match than the 1872 Cup. BT Murrayfield will be bouncing and there’s all to play for.”
Bennett has scored eight tries in 15 appearances for Edinburgh so far in this campaign and, after missing Scotland’s Autumn Test series through injury, he returned to the national side for the first time in three and a half year during the recent Six Nations, picking up his 23rd and 24th caps in the losses against France and Ireland at the end of the championship.
“I’ve absolutely loved working with Mark this season,” said Blair. “He’s really come into his own as a leader and we’ve been really impressed with the way he’s carried himself around our younger players too.
“We all know Mark is a threat with ball in hand and that’s been more evident than ever this season. His work rate around the park is exceptional and he’s playing with a smile on his face too which is really important.
“We have a lot of young Scottish players developing into the team, so having smart, experienced guys like Mark is absolutely vital to the way we play. He’s going to have a massive role to play in both the 1872 Cup decider and URC play-offs.”
Meanwhile, winger Darcy Graham has insisted that he ready to hit the ground running on Saturday when he will return to action following a month out with a thigh injury.
“I'm feeling really good,” he said. “That wee break probably came at a good time off the back of a pretty tough Six Nations. It was tough going to South Africa with Edinburgh soon after that as well so it was good to get a break and refresh to finish the season strongly.
“The goal was always to get back for the Glasgow game,” he added. “If things went really well, which they did, I would have been back a week quicker but we didn't have a game. I trained fully in the week of the Wasps game, but it was just a week too soon to come back for that one.”
Graham added that he is disappointed on a personal level that Saturday’s game has been switched from the DAM Health Stadium to the international bowl at Murrayfield, but added that he is confident it won’t detract from the home team’s performance.
“I think a lot of the boys wanted to play here at the DAM Health because we've built a real fortress there,” he said. “With every game, the atmosphere just gets better and better – but it will be class, a good experience, to be in the big Murrayfield.
“We've not been in there for a long time now so you could say it takes that home advantage away, especially because we love playing at our new home now. But for the Glasgow game there will be so many people there that it won’t be a huge difference.
“It is different when you just get 4,000 or 5,000 people in there but this one will have a great atmosphere. I urge people to get tickets and come along.”
Edinburgh are hoping for a crowd of 25,000 at the match.
