all they can in pre-season to win back
Heineken Champions Cup rugby, with
the group having spent three weeks
on physical conditioning alone before
introducing a rugby ball a few weeks ago.
But, looking ahead to the new season,
Haining expects to have a fight on his
hands when it comes to making it into
Edinburgh starting line-up.
The 6ft 4in number eight welcomes such
competition though, because, as he sees
it, it can only cause players to improve.
“It 100% will be [a fight to start], but I think
that’s what you look forward to,” Haining
explained.
“They’re some world-class players, and
that’s one of the reasons I came here,
to learn off them. I haven’t really played
against them but I’ve seen their highlights,
and I’ve seen them in matches, and
they're pretty exciting players - especially
Bill [Mata].”
“I’m looking forward to playing with them,
training with them, and learning a thing or
two - it’ll be tough but it’ll be good.”
While he admitted that his first task must
be to nail down a starting berth, Haining
similarly made no bones about his
ambition to play Test rugby for Scotland.
Asked about his international ambitions,
the Fremantle native, who qualifies for
Scotland selection through his Dundonian
grandmother, said: “That’s definitely one
of my dreams, to play international rugby.
“I’m taking one step at a time, and I
obviously have to make the Edinburgh
team first, but if I have a good season
here, I don’t see why not.
“You never know what could happen,
it could be just around the corner, but
there’s a lot of hard work to be done.”
And were he to achieve this dream,
the chance to play in the Six Nations
particularly excites the back-row, who
believes the competition is “only getting
better.”
“The chance to play in the Six Nations
would be unbelievable, beyond my
wildest dreams,” he added.
“Prior to coming over, it was always
regarded as quite a prestigious
competition to play but I think these last
five years have seen a huge step up in
competition.“The likes of Ireland, Wales, who Grand
Slammed it this year, and Scotland have
been really competitive in it as well, and
all the games are really close, and the
standard is only getting better.
“I watched the Calcutta Cup game, and it
was a hell of match,” he continued.
“To claw back and draw the game was
amazing - it’s just unfortunate that they
didn’t get to win it!“That's
definitely one
of my dreams,
to play
international
rugby”
ISSUE 116 2019 • WWW.SCRUMMAGAZINE.COM • 119PRO RUGBY