'He deserves it' - Edinburgh skipper tips prop for Scotland call and why he 'cringes' at winning statistic

Magnus Bradbury praises teammate and won’t be surprised if club form earns him Test match honours.

Edinburgh co-captain Magnus Bradbury says he wouldn’t be surprised to see teammate Ollie Blyth-Lafferty named in the next Scotland squad.

Head coach Gregor Townsend will announce his latest national team cohort for their November Test matches next month as they face New Zealand, Australia and Japan in the Nations Championship plus one more match as part of ‘Finals’ Weekend’. There is a growing consensus that the 20-year-old tighthead is ready to make the step up and represent his country at senior level.

Bradbury, who will have his own ambitions of being in that squad and playing more regularly in dark blue, certainly thinks the former under 20 international deserves to be selected. However, he added that the important thing for the youngster is to keep working hard for Edinburgh to give himself the best chance of securing a call-up.

“He deserves it” - Edinburgh captain wants to see young prop named in upcoming Scotland squad

“He's a quality player,” the back rower said. “Obviously, I'm not too in tune with the dark arts of the scum, but when he's focused and when he's on it, he's brilliant.

“I think you can see the way he's been given that leadership role in the U20s for the past couple of years, and how he's adapted to playing for us. The thing is with young players, what I always say is the ball's in their court.

“They just need to turn up each week and graft. He knows his weaknesses, he also knows his strengths, so he's a really good player to work with. I really enjoy the way he knuckles down and focuses on what he needs to do. Hopefully [he’s selected for Scotland], I think he deserves it.”

Bradbury was speaking after a Player of the Match performance as Edinburgh beat Zebre 29-12 away from home on Saturday, a result that made it three wins from three to kick off the URC season for the capital club. It’s the first time they have achieved that in 11 years, a statistic that makes Bradbury ‘cringe’.

He said: “When you say the first time in however many years we've won three on the bounce [to start the season], it makes me cringe a little bit because that's Edinburgh of old, really, isn't it?”

“That's the sort of Achilles heel we've had, but we've not been able to strengthen our performances. I think what's good is even, coming into this week, we're incredibly grounded.

“The whole squad is grounded. We're looking at one game at a time. Obviously, three from three is great, but can we go four from four? Can we go five from five into the November break?

“So it's just how we turn up Monday now for us as a group, as a younger group. How do we turn up Tuesday? How do we turn up next Friday? That's all I'm focused on now.”

They now take a break from URC duties as the EPCR Challenge Cup kicks off and, for Edinburgh, it all begins with the visit of French heavyweights Toulon to the Hive on Friday night.

“It'll be more of the same,” added Bradbury. “I think how we're playing at the moment is good, but it's just doubling down from here.

“Obviously, we'll have a look at tomorrow and see what threats they present and how we can tweak things to put them under more pressure, but our game plan is our game plan and that's what we should stick to.”

Get our rugby newsletter by clicking here