Sean Everitt is looking forward to unleashing summer signing Dylan Richardson for the first time as Edinburgh bid to kick-start their United Rugby Championship campaign away to Munster on Friday night.

The South-Africa born Scotland utility forward joined from Sharks but has had to be patient after suffering a back injury in pre-season.

However, Richardson, who can also operate at hooker, will make his Edinburgh debut at openside flanker in Cork.

“I am looking forward to seeing him play,” said head coach Everitt, who also coached Richardson at Sharks. “And he’s on the side of the scrum too, where I know him a little bit better in that position.

“It’s great for him. He went through a bit of adversity, came in, picked up a back injury, but he’s over that now.

“I know that he’s relieved about that and excited to get going. It’s never easy when you arrive at a new club and you end up with an injury after a couple of weeks.

“So it’s exciting for him, but it will also be exciting for us to see what he can bring to the table and how he can impose himself on Munster.”

Edinburgh pulled off one of their best results of last season when they won away to Munster in February and Everitt is hoping for a repeat as they bid to get their campaign up and running after their opening-day defeat in Zebre was followed by the postponement of last week’s home match against Ulster.

“It would be massive to get our season rolling on,” he said. “We all know that winning builds confidence and winning can become a habit, so we’re seeing this as a massive opportunity.

“We know how important these first five rounds are, so it would be great for the team to take confidence into Benetton at home next week.”