Scotland back-row Andy Onyeama-Christie hopeful injury nightmare is behind him

Andy Onyeama-Christie is hoping to banish the most testing period of his career after returning to the Scotland fold for the first time in more than a year.

The Saracens back-rower has been restricted to just eight caps since his Test debut in 2022 after being derailed by a string of injuries in recent seasons.

Having missed the 2023 World Cup due to a broken arm, the 26-year-old looked to be establishing himself in Gregor Townsend’s side when he featured in four of the 2024 Six Nations matches, starting the closing two games of the championship against Italy and Ireland.

However, he has not played for the national team since then with another broken arm ruling him out of last year’s summer tour and then a dislocated ankle sustained last October keeping out of the autumn internationals and the Six Nations.

“I think it’s tested me more than anything else in my life really,” he said, reflecting on the setbacks that have hindered his progress since he won his last cap 15 months ago.

“Tested my strength, my resilience. Since then I’ve broken my arm and broken my ankle, so a lot’s happened.

“But I think I try and look forward as much as possible and we’ve got a good few weeks to look forward to. Some really big opportunities, some exciting games, so I’m just trying to focus on that.”

Having fought back from two broken arms in the space of a year, Onyeama-Christie was devastated when he suffered his most recent injury in a Gallagher Premiership match against Harlequins last autumn.

“In all honesty, the first thing I thought of when the injury set in was, I’m going to miss the autumn and the Six Nations and that was quite heartbreaking,” he said.

“I’d worked so hard from my arm and then you can’t control these things.

“Scotland’s always been a big driver for me, particularly ever since I started playing for Scotland. The more games I play, the more I want to play games, so I’m just excited to be back in now.”

Onyeama-Christie is part of a Scotland squad heading to the South Pacific for matches next month against Maori All Blacks, Fiji and Samoa.

“We want to get three wins,” said the forward. “And I think from a personal perspective, I want to maximise the opportunity in terms of how I play, but also just being able to be in this environment.

“I’m not based up here, so I don’t get to spend a lot of time with these boys and it’s a great group. So being able to maximise time with the boys, time on the pitch with the coaches, understanding how we do things and trying to make it second nature.”

Northampton centre Rory Hutchinson has been called up to replace Edinburgh’s Matt Currie, who has been ruled out of the tour with a hamstring injury.