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Edinburgh captain Grant Gilchrist signs contract extension as major milestone approaches
By Josh Raisey
Edinburgh co-captain Grant Gilchrist has signed a one-year contract extension, taking him into his 14th season in the Scottish capital.
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The 33-year-old follows his Scotland teammate and fellow lock Sam Skinner in signing a new Edinburgh deal, which will run until June 2025.
After signing the extension, the 68-cap Scotland international said: “I’m delighted to have signed an extension to my contract. I’ve made no secret of my love for my boyhood club and the city I call home.
“My two young boys are now Edinburgh supporters and love coming to the games and chanting ‘Ed-in-burgh’, so my connection to the club only gets deeper and deeper.
“I’m desperate to help bring success for our fans and believe we have the squad, coaches and staff to make that happen.”
Gilchrist ran out for Edinburgh for a 194th time on Saturday in the 34-21 win over Castres in the EPCR Challenge Cup, meaning he inches ever closer to becoming the second Edinburgh double-centurion following Allan Jacobsen.
On the prospect of achieving that milestone, he said: “It would be a huge honour for me to reach 200 caps, to be up there with the absolute legends of this club is a bit surreal to be honest.
“If, fingers crossed, I can make it happen, it’ll be an incredibly proud day for me and my family. I remember my first season like it was yesterday, getting to play alongside legends of the club I grew up supporting – Chunk, Mossy, Fordy, Mike Blair. Time flies!”
Before achieving any personal career achievements though, Gilchrist has back-to-back 1872 Cup derbies with Glasgow Warriors over the festive period, starting with a visit to Scotstoun on Friday.
After tying down two of his locks in consecutive days, head coach Sean Everitt said: “Simply put, Grant [Gilchrist] loves playing for Edinburgh and that’s been hugely apparent since I joined the club in the summer. He’s a true one-club man that takes a huge amount of pride in representing this team and putting his body on the line for his teammates.
“When Grant speaks, players sit up and listen because of his experience and knowledge of the game. What people perhaps don’t see is the amount of work he puts in away from the training paddock, his analysis and study of both his own game and opponents is second to none.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with Grant so far in my time at the club – I’m delighted to see him agree terms on a new deal.”
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The writer here ignores the fact that, following on from not taking the penalty kick, the All Blacks did manage to score a try a few minutes later. Not directly from the penalty awarded, but it is speculation to say that had they opted to take the koi they would have won. Even if they kicked it, which was no guarantee, they would still be trailing and would have had to start again at half-way.
Go to commentsI would be surprised if Sales Opoku Fordjour and Northampton’s Tommy Freeman are not in the team, Anthony Watson is also one that could go on the wing. One thing I must say is that the front 3 will get destroyed against a team like South Africa.
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