Rugby: New deal in the offing for Edinburgh scrum half Laidlaw

Capped scrum half Greig Laidlaw is poised to set aside the disappointment of narrowly failing to be included in Scotland’s World Cup squad and sign a two-year contract extension with Edinburgh Rugby.

The 25-year-old, who joined Edinburgh in 2006, is expected to put pen to paper later today on a deal that will keep him with the Capital team until 2014, at least.

Over the last year Laidlaw’s career has blossomed to the extent of now experiencing an extremely healthy rivalry with British Lion Mike Blair for the No. 9 shirt.

Last November, Laidlaw earned a debut cap against New Zealand from off the bench and he doubled that tally in the recent World Cup warm up Test against Ireland when he helped Scotland to victory.

Injuries to Blair have added to Laidlaw’s chances which he has taken with both hands while latterly demonstrating an ability to slot seamlessly into the stand off role. Indeed, Edinburgh have not been slow to recognise the contributions of a player who has made 73 league appearances and a further 16 in the European Cup while garnering a total of 83 points.

Earlier this season, the former Jed-Forest star was handed the captaincy for the 2011-12 campaign.