Grant steps up to top job at Edinburgh

The Botswana-born Grant will take over from Scotland and British & Irish Lions scrum half Mike Blair in the top job at the Scottish capital club a year after being given a full-time professional contract at the club.

"This is a proud day and a massively exciting opportunity for me. It's an honour just to be an Edinburgh player, so to be named captain is one of the best things that's ever happened to me," said Grant.

"I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can to make a success of the job and to ensure the team has a great season. All the ingredients are there for that to happen."

Edinburgh open their European campaign on Saturday, 9 October against Amlin Challenge Cup champions Cardiff Blues at the Cardiff City Stadium. The two teams have never met before in Europe, although they clash at the same venue in the opening round of Magners League matches in September.

Grant's side will also meet Castres Olympique and Northampton Saints in their Pool, with the aim of building on four successive home Heineken Cup wins at Murrayfield. They did the double over Castres two seasons ago, when their 13-6 victory at Stade Pierre Antoine provided them with their first victory on French soil in the tournament and their first away win in five seasons.

Grant represented South Africa at water-polo at under 15 and under 16 age groups and played rugby rugby for Natal Schools in 2004 and 2005. He was drafted into the Natal Sharks' high-performance squad in 2005.

But his Scottish roots took over - both parents are Scottish - and he joined Border Reivers in the summer of 2006 as an apprentice. Seven months later he made his debut for the professional team as a substitute in the Magners League match against Newport Gwent Dragons.

His Heineken Cup baptism came in Paris last season against a rampant Stade Francais side in a game in which Edinburgh went down 31-7. He made five Pool appearances in the competiton.

Grant graduated from the Scotland Under 19 and Under 21 teams into the Scottish A and Sevens sides. The next step is to follow the family tradition of becoming a fully fledged international.

Rugby is very much in his blood as both his maternal grandfather and great uncle were international referees. In fact, his great uncle, George Burrell, also played full back for Scotland in the fifties and was manager of the 1977 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

"Everything we've seen from Roddy since he came into the Edinburgh fold has shown him to be a mature and confident rugby player who can handle anything that's thrown at him," said Edinburgh coach Rob Moffat.

"He has the respect of his coaches and his teammates and performed well when we made him captain for those games last season. He sets high standards for himself, and he'll set high standards for those around him."

Blair has pledged his full support for his back row colleague having ended speculation about a possible switch to Ulster by signing a new contract.

"I'm going to approach my rugby in exactly the same manner as before, giving as much as I possibly can as both an individual and a leader," said Blair.

"Roddy can expect my full support and he's got an exciting future ahead of him, as do Edinburgh generally. The potential that exists in this team was the main reason I decided to stay and sign my new contract."