EDINBURGH have signed Samoan international prop Jordan Lay as emergency cover ahead of Saturday’s 1872 Cup second leg clash against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun. The 25-year-old loose-head has been recruited from New Zealand-based outfit the Bay of Plenty Steamers until the end of the season.
Rory Sutherland started last week’s game in the number one jersey, but appeared to be nursing a shoulder injury when he retired from the field early in the second half; and with fellow Scotland caps Alasdair Dickinson [shoulder], Allan Dell [groin] and Darryl Marfo [back] also out of action at the moment, Edinburgh are desperately short of cover in this position. An injury update has not yet been issued for this week.
Youngster Murray McCallum replaced Sutherland last Saturday, and would be the obvious choice to start Saturday’s game; but he also has experience playing tight-head and may be pressed into action on that side of the scrum given the absence of WP Nel with a broken arm and the inevitable suspension of Simon Berghan by a disciplinary hearing later today after his fourth minute sending-off last week for stamping on Glasgow Warriors hooker Fraser Brown’s head.
Matt Shields (a recent signing from Rotherham Titans), Elliot Miller-Mills (signed from Yorkshire Carnegie) and Kevin Bryce are the other full-time tight-heads currently on the books at Edinburgh.
Lay picked up the first of his five Samoa caps against Tonga in July and played in November’s match against Scotland at BT Murrayfield.
“Jordan is a young prop with great potential and I’m delighted that he’s chosen to join the club at an exciting time of the season,” said Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill. “He has impressed for Samoa on the international stage and he will no doubt add another dimension to what we’re building here at Edinburgh.”
Originally from the Samoan capital of Apia, Lay moved to Auckland alongside his younger brother James – who also plays in the front-row for Samoa – when he was just three-years-old.
A product of Auckland’s renowned King’s College, the prop progressed into the school’s 1st XV, before making the move south to Tauranga’s Bay of Plenty Steamers, who compete in the Mitre 10 Cup.
Meanwhile, lock Anton Bresler has left the club with immediate effect to join Worcester Warriors, the Aviva Premiership side which the SRU are reported to be keen to invest in. The length of Bresler’s new contract has not been disclosed.
Former Edinburgh head coach Alan Solomons was recently appointed director of rugby at the club on a two-and-a-half-year deal.