JOHN Barclay will be in the Edinburgh squad to face Leinster on Friday – the first time he will have played for the team he joined last summer, and his first game since being injured while playing for Scarlets against Glasgow in last season’s PRO14 play-offs.

Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill declined to say yesterday whether the former Scotland captain would be in the starting line-up or begin on the bench for the crucial Conference B match at Murrayfield, but he is in no doubt that the 32-year-old’s experience will be vital as the team try to fight their way back into the top three. Cockerill also revealed that Grant Gilchrist and Stuart McInally would be rested after their Scotland duties, but that everyone else who is fully fit would be available.

“He’ll be in the 23 this week,” the coach said of Barclay, who needed an operation on a ruptured Achilles tendon last May. “John’s been training for the last two or three weeks. You can see the quality that he has as a player in everything that he does, cos he knows the game very well – he just hasn’t played for nine months.

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“So his injury is good and he’s fit and ready to go. It’ll be good to have him on the field at whatever stage in the game, and he can share his experience with the rest of the team, but also he’s a fantastic player. It’ll be good – I’ve had no back-rowers for months, now I’m having to have awkward conversations cos we’ve got too many good ones. It’s quite a nice spot to be in.

“The thing is that he has to be good enough to get into the team because in his absence the guys have stepped up. [Magnus] Bradbury has done exceptionally well, we have [Hamish] Watson, [Viliame] Mata, Jamie Ritchie, [Luke] Crosbie, so there is some stiff competition in that back-row. He has got to catch up very quickly.

“Let’s just see where he gets to at the weekend, but his leadership around the group and his knowledge of the game is very, very good, and that could well be important for us in the run-in. But Jamie Ritchie has been growing into that No 6 or No 7 shirt for Scotland very, very well. Magnus Bradbury has been very, very good and Billy does what he does. There’s some stiff competition for those back row spots.

“Push comes to shove his experience could be key. It will be good to have him on the field and see how he gets on. He has to be good enough to get in the team – though I would like to have him in the team, because he has a lot of experience and is a quality player when he’s fit.”

Spoiled for choice

The competition for back-row places will heighten shortly when Luke Hamilton also becomes available. The Scotland international took a full part in training on Monday, but is still a couple of weeks away from playing, according to his coach, having been out of action since taking a head knock against Glasgow.

Meanwhile, Blair Kinghorn, who revealed last week that his season was over because of an ankle injury sustained playing for Scotland against Wales, should be able to resume full training towards the end of May. “He has a thing called syndesmosis, which to the rest of us is a twisted ankle,” Cockerill added. “But they have to do a small operation where they knit the bones together with wire, and he’s out for eight to 10 weeks.”

While Kinghorn will be a significant loss, the overall picture for Edinburgh has become far brighter as they prepare for a run-in to the season which features the Champions Cup quarter-final against Munster as well as some potentially vital PRO14 matches. Not only are they able to welcome back from injury big-name players such as Barclay and Matt Scott, they have also had a massive boost to their morale this week as a result of that extraordinary second-half performance against England.

“If that had turned into a very one-sided result it would have been difficult for guys to come back and be optimistic and be happy with the finish to the Six Nations,” Cockerill said of Saturday’s 38-38 draw at Twickenham. “It’s been a tough tournament for Scotland in lots of ways.

“For that performance, and to come out of that with what they’ve done, gives players a bit of spring in their step. So those that are available this week and come back into the 23 will be a little bit happier and energised than probably if they’d been on the back end of a 40- or 50-point loss. So hopefully, certainly this week it’s going to be important on Friday, then quarter-final week there will be no lack of motivation for obvious reasons.”