Given the manner in which Edinburgh’s season fizzled out disappointingly, it is little wonder that the club has acted decisively to try to ensure they are better placed to cope with the rigours of another demanding campaign ahead.
Granted, injuries played a large part in that slump – back three regulars Darcy Graham, Emiliano Boffelli and Wes Goosen all missed out at different spells – but head coach Sean Everitt believes the capital side has recruited well and now have a greater array of options when it comes to matters of selection.
A lot of the changes are largely like for like. Magnus Bradbury has returned to take the place of the departed Bill Mata, likewise Paul Hill for WP Nel. Matt Scott fills the Chris Dean role of experienced centre, while Ross McCann will provide a lightning quick wing option, with Jake Henry off to Coventry on loan.
Two of the new signings, however, stand out more than the others.
One is Mosese Tuipulotu who has arrived from the Waratahs to offer a fresh threat in midfield.
Another more familiar face is Ross Thompson who has scooted along the M8 from Glasgow to give Ben Healy some much-needed cover at fly-half.
And Everitt hopes all the changes will make Edinburgh a more formidable force in his second season in charge.
“There were areas that we identified within our squad where we needed depth,” explained the head coach.
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“We were short in certain areas in the latter part of the season and we don’t want to get caught in those positions again.
“A guy like Ben Healy took a huge amount of load and played one of the highest totals of minutes in the competition.
"He did really well for us and ended up as top points scorer but it’s not ideal for a player to play week in, week out like that, although it was good for his growth to get that game time.
“That’s why we’ve brought in a guy like Ross Thompson. They can share the load because it’s important we look after the welfare of the players with the busy season that we have.
“In the midfield we’ve brought in Matt Scott for Chris Dean and we’re fortunate that we are able to replace experience with experience.
“And we have Mosese Tuipulotu, a youngster coming in, in a position where we don’t have many young players competing for spots, apart from Matt Currie. In our academy we only have really young centres like Finlay Thomson who has just signed. So we’ve created some depth there.
“We’ve also got Ross McCann coming in on the wing and that certainly helps us, with the departure of Jake Henry who we’ve released [to Coventry on loan] to get more game time and experience specifically because we’ve got the likes of Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe, Wes Goosen and Boffelli.
“So it’s exciting times for us and we’re in a better position with the squad we’ve put together now from a depth position.”
Being the child or sibling of any sports star is never easy and all eyes will be on Tuipulotu to see if he can match the achievements of big brother Sione who came over from Australia via Japan as a relative unknown and is now established as one of Glasgow and Scotland’s leading lights.
Everitt believes Tuipulotu Jr has got the potential to reach similar highs but warns it may take time, with the 23-year-old not enjoying much rugby last season.
“What we’ve got to remember is that he’s a youngster and coming to Scotland is a new experience for him,” he added.
“He’s going to have to adapt to the style of play and also make himself comfortable and make Scotland his home.
“I presume it would have been a daunting move for him because he’s very close to his family back in Australia. Fortunately, he does have his brother not too far along the road!
“He’s a player who’s got a lot of potential and who’s got a lot of work to do on his game.
"Unfortunately, this year he hasn’t been exposed to the highest level of rugby that he would have liked to have been due to circumstances but we wouldn’t have brought a player here if we didn’t feel he had the necessary potential to play for Scotland.”
Edinburgh are now into their fourth week of pre-season, with their international players set to be eased back gently after their exertions over the summer.
“A lot of our senior Scotland internationals were involved in the World Cup and the Six Nations and then came straight back into the URC [before going on the Americas tour] so they haven’t had much of a break,” added Everitt.
“So it’s important to give them that opportunity to be with their families and have a mental break.
“We’ve split the group in two and six of our senior players will be returning to play on August 26. The balance of our squad will return on the 19th, so they’ll be a week earlier.
"The reason for that is that from August 19 we have four weeks to our first official friendly which is against Gloucester and then we’ll have our preparation week against Leinster.”
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