Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

1872 Cup: Emiliano Boffelli didn’t get to Qatar, but is still staying at Edinburgh

Emiliano Boffelli has agreed a new two-year contract with Edinburgh.
Emiliano Boffelli has agreed a new two-year contract with Edinburgh.

Emilliano Boffelli is happy at Edinburgh and they’re thrilled to have him for two more years – but even that has its limits.

The Argentinian full-back/wing has signed a new two-year contract with the capital club when he might have had his pick of top clubs in Europe.

It’s a huge boost ahead of Edinburgh’s 1872 second leg against Glasgow in front of an expected crowd of more than 25,000 at Murrayfield on Friday.

But head coach Mike Blair admitted he had to reel in the 27-year-old, the top scorer in all of international rugby in 2022, the other week – when the proud Argentinian asked if he could have time off to go to the World Cup Final in Qatar.

‘Be serious, do you think I could?’

“I still don’t know to this day if he was being serious or not!” said Blair. “He had the serious face on but there was that glint in the eye as well.

“We initially laughed it off but he then sent me a message later on saying: “be serious with me, do you think I could?”

“I quickly checked what flights were available and asked him what flights would allow him to be back for training. And I didn’t get a reply until the morning when he admitted the flights available were no good.”

The most reliable and prolific goalkicker in world rugby, ‘Boff’ had a pivotal role in the Pumas’ historic victories over New Zealand, Australia, England and Scotland this year.

He scored more than 50 points more than the the second highest points scorer and was a certain target for big clubs in France and England when his current deal expired in the summer.

“He was really keen to stay – so that obviously makes things a lot easier for starters,” said Blair.

“He’s found his way into the group really effectively, he’s a brilliant guy to have around, he’s really popular.

“He’s enjoying learning English, he’s enjoying living in Edinburgh, and I think he’s enjoyed the fact that since he’s been here his pedigree has jumped up a huge amount.

“He understands that an environment is really important for him. I’m sure there were lots of teams going hard after him, but we’re delighted he wants to stay with us.”

Kinghorn, Skinner back in the team

Boffelli is back at full-back in an Edinburgh side on Friday that sees the return of Scotland stars Blair Kinghorn, Sam Skinner, Mark Bennett and Luke Crosbie. They all of missed the 16-10 defeat in the first leg against Glasgow last week.

Veteran Henry Pyrgos will start at scrum-half with Pierre Schoeman on the bench and Boan Venter starting instead.

Skinner’s return will be his first action since getting injured in the first Autumn Test against Australia.

Glasgow have made just two changes to the side that slugged out the 16-10 win at Scotstoun last week.

Ali Price starts at nine for George Horne, while Ollie Smith returns at full-back.

Teams

Edinburgh (vs Glasgow, 1872 Cup, BT Murrayfield, Friday ko 7.35 pm, live on Viaplay)

Emiliano Boffelli; Wes Goosen, Mark Bennett, James Lang, Duhan van der Merwe; Blair Kinghorn, Henry Pyrgos; Boan Venter, Tom Cruse, WP Nel; Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchirst (co-capt); Jamie Ritchie (co-capt), Luke Crosbie, Viliame Mata.

Replacements: Paddy Harrison, Pierre Scoheman, Angus Williams, Marshall Sykes, Connor Boyle, Charlie Shiel, Charlie Savala, Cammy Hutchinson.

Glasgow: Ollie Smith; Sebastien Cancelliere, Sion Tuipulotu, Stafford McDowell, Kyle Steyn (capt); Tom Jordan, Ali Price; Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown, Lucio Sordoni; Sintu Manjezi, Richie Gray; Matt Fagerson, Sione Vailanu, Jack Dempsey.

Replacements: George Turner, Nathan McBeth, Simon Berghan, JP du Preez, Lewis Bean, Cameron Neild, George Horne, Domingo Miotti.