There may never be a good time for a professional athlete to get injured. But there is a good time to return to action - and for Sam Skinner, that time is now.
The Edinburgh lock’s last game before sustaining a knee injury was for Scotland against Romania at the Rugby World Cup. More than three months on, he is set to make a comeback for his club in Saturday’s home Challenge Cup tie against Gloucester, in what will be his one and only chance to prove his fitness before national coach Gregor Townsend announces his squad for this year’s Six Nations Championship.
In truth, Skinner should have enough credit in the bank to ensure he is selected by the national coach even if he has a less than barnstorming game at the weekend. Nonetheless, after so long on the sidelines, the 28-year-old is understandably eager to return to action - especially as he was so close to doing so a fortnight ago only to be required to wait a little longer.
“I started training a couple of weeks ago and, in theory, I was fit for selection for the second of the two Glasgow games,” he explained. “But I wasn’t running around like a professional athlete - in terms of the mechanics, rather than fitness. But this week I’m running around feeling like I can really apply myself, which is a great feeling, because it’s been a challenging period.
“I feel back to my normal self, to be honest. Got the body MOT’d properly and we’re ready to go again, which is amazing. It feels great to be training with the lads and being able to apply myself 100 per cent.
“The last time I played was the Romania game. I was due to play in the Dragons game [Edinburgh’s first fixture of the URC season], but I pulled up in the warm-up and it’s been a really bizarre period. But these things happen.
“It was my knee. I carried it through the World Cup a little bit, then I came back, feeling good, but it just blew up in training. I won’t bore you with the details as it was a bit of a complicated one, but we finally got there in the end.”
During his time on the sidelines, Skinner agreed a new two-year contract with Edinburgh, the team he joined from Exeter Chiefs in 2022. As an established international with 30 caps to his name, he could easily have sought employment elsewhere, but did not take too long to decide that he wanted to prolong his stay in the capital.
“I’ve loved my time here,” he explained. “It’s been brilliant, and I’ve been desperate to apply myself for the group, so it was a no-brainer for me.”
The game against Gloucester will evoke fond memories for him of his time as an Exeter player, particularly of one European tie. “I've had some great games against Gloucester,” he recalled.
“We went away against them in Europe just after we’d lost at home to them and we needed five points to keep our campaign alive - and we got it. It was back when you had double-headers in the group stage, which I preferred, to be honest - I loved that set-up. That was a good fixture.”
There is nothing quite so cut-throat about Saturday’s tie. With two rounds of games to go in the pool, Gloucester are three points clear of Edinburgh and three other teams, but with four of the six sides qualifying for the last 16, everyone still has some margin for error.
All the same, given the match is the first of the year and of the second half of the season for them, Skinner and team-mates will be well motivated to get a result. “It’s a massive game,” he said. “I’m hearing it’s a sell-out, which is amazing.
“That gives us a real lift as a group of players when we feel we’re connecting with the fans and putting in performances they deserve and we deserve. We’ve laid a really good foundation for our season, and it’s maybe not a must-win but this is us starting the second half of our season and it’s massive. A big game for us.”
A big game for all of the Edinburgh side, granted, but especially significant for Skinner as he seeks to cement that place in Townsend’s Six Nations squad. “Exactly,” he added. “That’s exactly it.”
