Graham preparing for ‘physical’ Ireland

The 23-year-old has made a big impression on the international stage since winning his first cap against Wales in 2018.

The Edinburgh winger is currently in Dublin preparing for tomorrow’s final Autumn Nations Cup match alongside a number of his Edinburgh team mates, including Jaco van der Walt, who will win his firct cap at the Aviva Stadium.

Graham says van der Walt will be one of their jackal threats, but they must also focus on not allowing Ireland any turnovers of their own.

Speaking to scottishrugby.org, he said: “Jaco is class. He’s really good at taking the ball to the line and he’s real physical. For Edinburgh he gets jackals and turnovers in that contact area, so he’s a really physical 10, which is good for us.

“Ireland are a big, physical team and they’ve got a lot of jackal threats, so we’re going to have to be sharp to the breakdown and not let them get any momentum in there and let them into the game that way. We’re going over there to play our own game.”

The Scotland players have been in camp for the last six weeks and due to new COVID-19 regulations, life in camp has been very different this autumn.

However, Graham says all the players have embraced the changes and have enjoyed spending more time together.

“It’s always a privilege to pull on the Scotland jersey, I always love to do it and it has been a very enjoyable camp. The boys have been close, we can’t really go out and do much, but they’ve made it really enjoyable being in camp”, he explained.

“It’s been good being with each other, we don’t normally spend this much time together, unless it’s a Rugby World Cup year.

Graham is one of three Hawick boys in the Scotland starting XV tomorrow and he says it’s massive for the town and the club that they’ve produced so many Scotland internationals over the years.

He added: “Hawick have produced more Scotland international players than any other Scottish club, it’s a massive rugby town and to have three boys in the starting team [tomorrow] is huge for Hawick.

“There is definitely a real buzz around the town and it is massive for the town and the youngsters coming through, who are hopefully watching.”