Hodge returns to Edinburgh

 

The Dumfries-born, Merchiston Caste School-educated former stand-off, plied his trade with Edinburgh as a player from 1994 to 2003, before a two-season stint with Leeds Tykes, then returned to the club from 2005 to 2007.

 

At the end of that season he was employed on a part-time basis as Specialist Coach at Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors and the national team, going full-time in 2012.

 

Hodge, also capped 26 times by Scotland, will join a backroom team led by recently re-signed head coach Alan Solomons and assistant coach Steve Scott – with whom he worked alongside as interim Edinburgh coach at the end of season 2012/13 – as the club aim to build on a season which has seen them compete in a European Challenge Cup Final and remain in contention for a top six league finish until the dying minutes of the last game of the season.

 

head coach Alan Solomons said: "Duncan [Hodge] is a first-class bloke who I have no doubt will add value to the club as we look to continue our progress."

 

Hodge is currently in New Zealand, alongside former Edinburgh player and current Currie coach, Ben Cairns. Both men are part of the international programme at the Canterbury High Performance Unit, as the most recent recipients of the John Macphail Coaching Scholarship.

 

Speaking from Christchurch he said:  "I want to coach, to be able to help young Scottish players get better and I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to do that at a club that means so much to me.

 

"I spent many happy years with Edinburgh as a player and know a lot of the current players well, through my role with the Scotland national squad.

 

"To get to work with the players throughout the season, as opposed to short bursts, will be great and I'm really looking forward to developing as a coach with Alan [Solomons]."