Muncaster faces 10-week absence as teenager Blyth-Lafferty eyes Scotland RWC spot

Ben Muncaster will be sidelined for 10 weeks after Edinburgh confirmed the flanker requires surgery on ankle damage sustained during his comeback appearance against Harlequins on 18 September, ruling him out of Scotland’s November Nations Championship series.

The 24-year-old back-row, who made his Scotland Test debut against Portugal last season and earned two further caps as a replacement, has endured a brutal run of injuries. A back problem delayed his 2024-25 campaign before a knee injury on his first start in late November was followed by a season-ending ankle ligament injury in early April. He managed just 10 appearances in total. His latest setback came on his very first outing back from that lay-off.

“It’s been very bad luck for him,” Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt said. “I haven’t been in a franchise where a guy has been ravaged like that. It happens once in a while. Unfortunately, he’s been very unlucky. I think once this is done, hopefully that’s the end of it and he can move on and get some consistency on the field.”

Muncaster is the latest addition to an increasingly lengthy Edinburgh injury list. Scotland wing Darcy Graham is out until Christmas with a ruptured bicep, hooker Patrick Harrison is sidelined until the new year with a back problem, and scrum-half Ben Vellacott is not expected back from shoulder surgery until December. Wing Duhan van der Merwe, meanwhile, may not feature for the club before the November Tests despite being close to returning to training from a persistent ankle issue.

Edinburgh will also be without Scotland tighthead D’arcy Rae for Friday’s URC home fixture against the Stormers after he suffered a fresh setback and will see a specialist over recurring back and calf issues. Fellow tighthead Rhys Litterick, the Scotland-qualified former Cardiff prop who missed all of last season with an Achilles injury on debut, is still working towards a return in the coming weeks.

That combination of absences hands 20-year-old Ollie Blyth-Lafferty another chance to press his Scotland claims. The 6ft 4in, 135kg prop made 15 appearances — including 10 starts — in a breakthrough campaign last season, featuring against the likes of Toulon and the Sharks, and was under consideration for Scotland’s Nations Championship squad in July. With Rae now unavailable and Litterick not yet fit, Friday’s match represents a significant opportunity for the teenager to make his case ahead of the Rugby World Cup selection cycle.