Edinburgh Rugby lose another player to the English Premiership as Andrew Davidson joins Gloucester

Twenty-four hours after Duhan van der Merwe’s transfer to Worcester Warriors was announced, Edinburgh have lost another player to an English Premiership club.

Andrew Davidson (right) will leave Edinburgh at the end of the season to join Gloucester. Picture: Ross Parker / SNS

Lock forward Andrew Davidson has a struck a deal to join Gloucester. Like van der Merwe, he will leave the capital when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Richard Cockerill, the Edinburgh coach, said: “Duhan has left for his reasons and Andrew Davidson will go to Gloucester. Some of that is because of where they want to play from a competition point of view. But we’ve done some deals and there are a few others still to do. There are no guarantees in any sport that everyone is going to stay. But I can assure people that we will still have a strong squad of guys who will make Edinburgh a good team going forward and will provide players for Scotland.

“It doesn’t take too much working out that we’ve got young players coming through who have come on to the scene and become internationals since they were last awarded contracts. So they’re going to want more money. We are in Covid times so budgets are very tight. Wages go up and your budget goes down so you have to manage that sensibly. There was only a point we could go to in Duhan’s case. It was a very robust financial offer but he didn’t accept it.”

Davidson, 24, joined Edinburgh at the start of the 2020-21 season from Glasgow Warriors. He began his professional career with the Scotstoun club before leaving to join Newcastle Falcons in May 2016.

He spent three seasons on Tyneside before returning to the Warriors.

Gloucester have already signed Glasgow Warriors stand-off Adam Hastings for next season as a long term replacement for Danny Cipriani who has already left the club.

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