Graham eyeing French test

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JULY 29: Scotland's Darcy Graham scores the second Scotland try of the match during The Famous Grouse Nations Series match between Scotland and Italy at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, on July 29, 2023, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Graham was making his first appearance in a Scotland shirt since last year’s Autumn Nation Series, when he scored four tries in four games, including a hat-trick against Argentina. A knee injury sustained playing for Edinburgh in December meant he missed the whole of the Guinness Six Nations.

After being replaced by Blair Kinghorn late in the second-half on Saturday, Graham said he was happy to make way for his Edinburgh teammate, with a double-header against France now on the horizon.

Darcy Graham, said: “I did my job and my back tightened up, so I was ready to come off and fire into this week.

“I want to play every game from now until the end of the World Cup. My aim is to try and get the starting jersey every time.

“I want to pull on the Scotland jersey, no matter when it is or where it is. I love doing it. I want to get a bit of form, get my confidence back up and have a good World Cup.”

Graham says this weekend’s match against France will be a huget test for the squad as they continue their preparations for the Rugby World Cup and that they’ll need to improve when they take on the French – who are currently the third best team in the world, after being overtaken by New Zealand in the World Rankings this week.

He said: “One hundred per cent we need to be better against France. They are one of the world’s best and have a home tournament, so their confidence will be high.

“They will come over here and get their World Cup campaign started and build their confidence as well. They will come here all guns blazing.

“I’m not hugely satisfied with the Italy game even though I got two tries. I made a few errors out there. I will look at it closely and see how I can improve.”

The prolific winger now has 18 tries from 34 Tests and has Stuart Hogg’s all-time Scottish record of 27 in his sights.

He added: “Me and Duhi [Duhan van der Merwe] are hunting it down so we are having a wee competition between each other. I am one ahead of him. Ten more to go.”

Tickets for Saturday’s game against France (kick-off 3.15pm) are still available HERE with kids under 12 free until midnight on Thursday (T&Cs apply).