Edinburgh 25/26

[septic 9]

Edinburgh team for Benetton on Saturday. Forwards probably going to be OK but I wouldn’t expect the backs to be any better than they have been. I can’t see Thompson bringing them any more to bring them into the game than Scott has. In VDMs absence Goosen is playing on the left wing. That’s his 3rd position so far this season. The replacements are uninspiring with McConnell the only one likely to have an impact.

Glasgow have lost their last 2 matches away to Benetton who are very good at home, so big challenge for Edinburgh
That said season before that Glasgow won in a low scoring game, difference between the sides was Ross Thomson. Again, that said was poor conditions and heavy-ish pitch, Thomson's tactical kicking controlled the game

[BaldiePete]

Looking back at Edinburgh results they haven’t beaten Benetton in Italy since October 2017.

[Cameo]

Yeam looks okay on paper to me, juat no idea how they will perform.

At least whatever happens for the rest of this season whoever is coaching them next year will have a crop of youngsters with a reasonable level of experience.

[BaldiePete]

Edinburgh win 15-14 in yet another terrible match. 15-0 up after 50 minutes they were clinging on to a single point lead at the end, which was almost the most typically Edinburgh end of a match you will see. Penalty to Edinburgh given after 79 minutes, Scott allows the clock to go past 80 then kicks. Surely game over, but no, the ball hits the post, comes back into play and they have to survive three more minutes as Benetton get upfield to the Edinburgh 10 before making a mistake to end the game. I was expecting Edinburgh to be penalised and Benetton to kick the winning penalty.

Douglas was POTM, which was well deserved. They need to keep starting him but with Everitt you never know, he doesn’t trust his young players and is only playing them when injuries dictate that he has to. A competent coach would have rotated them into the strongest team rather than playing them when he’s no choice. Schoeman and Morris had to play the full match yesterday and will have been totally knackered at the end. Jerry Blyth-Lafferty and Whitcombe were simply there as injury cover rather than being brought into the game to bring fresh energy to the front row.

Anyway, it the first win in Treviso since 2017 and they climb to the dizzying heights of 10th in the league.

[Cameo]

Is this not bringing on subs thing a Scotland wide theory or simply a reflecgion of our bench options? I'm all for reducing the number of subs, just not unilaterally!

[BaldiePete]

Glasgow use their replacements well so it’s an Everitt and Townsend thing.

[Cameo]

Glasgow use their replacements well so it’s an Everitt and Townsend thing.

Sometimes, though Smith fairly often leaves people on the bench or only brings them on right at the end. From memoray, the Scarlets game they got nilled in was an example.

[BaldiePete]

Edinburgh team for the European match against Gloucester. They’re having an even worse season than Edinburgh so this could be a cripple fight to see who drops into the diddy cup. From comments this week Everitt knows that the problem with the attack is a failure to get the ball to the back 3 in a way that allows them to make the best of their talents. That is definitely the case but I don’t think anyone is convinced that Everitt is the coach who can do that.

It’s a 6:2 bench which means Lang will be covering 10. Academy player Euan McVie might get his first start.

It’s a very inexperienced starting front row with strength and experience on the bench. Can Everitt make the best of that and use the bench to Edinburgh’s advantage? Past experience doesn’t bode well.

I like the back row a lot, it’s very well balanced and it’s good to see the young guys making the most of their opportunities. Half backs are the perennial problem. Vellacott has neither a great pass or kicking game and Thompson is half the player he promised to be when he was at Glasgow.

15.⁠ ⁠Wes Goosen (65)

14.⁠ ⁠Darcy Graham (89)
13.⁠ ⁠Matt Currie (68)
12.⁠ ⁠James Lang (83)
11.⁠ ⁠Duhan van der Merwe (109)

10.⁠ ⁠Ross Thompson (32)
9.⁠ ⁠Ben Vellacott (84)

1.⁠ ⁠James Whitcombe (2)
2.⁠ ⁠Harri Morris (11)
3.⁠ ⁠Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (6)
4.⁠ ⁠Callum Hunter-Hill (26)
5.⁠ ⁠Glen Young (57)
6.⁠ ⁠Liam McConnell (15)
7.⁠ ⁠Freddy Douglas (14)
8.⁠ ⁠Magnus Bradbury (143) CAPTAIN

Replacements

16.⁠ ⁠Ewan Ashman (45)
17.⁠ ⁠Pierre Schoeman (143)
18.⁠ ⁠Paul Hill (24)
19.⁠ ⁠Euan McVie*
20.⁠ ⁠Tom Dodd (17)
21.⁠ ⁠Ben Muncaster (50)
22.⁠ ⁠Charlie Shiel (82)
23.⁠ ⁠Piers O’Conor (9)

Unavailable: Charlie McCaig (knee), Rhys Litterick (achilles), Rob Carmichael (wrist), Mosese Tuipulotu (knee), Tom Currie (knee), Luke Crosbie (hamstring), D’arcy Rae (ankle), Sam Skinner (hamstring), Paddy Harrison (back), Marshall Sykes (arm), Harry Paterson (hamstring), Findlay Thomson (hand), Boan Venter (neck), Dylan Richardson (ribs), Grant Gilchrist (quad), Conor McAlpine (hamstring)

[Cameo]

Good win in the end, though one they had to get against a poor team.

Douglas man of the match again. He missed a bad tackle and butchered a chance for Duhan but he might just be the best jackaller in the world (I know it sounds crazy but he's that good). Would it be crazy to give him a go in the 6N? He could win us a game and it's maybe best to get him in before he is analysed to death.

As for the other topic of the hour, the wingers, I thought they both tried hard but look like they could do with a rest (and some nice run ins).

[BaldiePete]

The forwards won it for Edinburgh, the back row were all on great form. It was a shame about the Douglas forward pass, Duhan really needed that try as a confidence booster. As usual pretty much nothing from the backs. Vellacott is good in broken play but his passing isn’t strong and his kicking from the back of the ruck is rarely the best length. Thompson can't create space for those outside him and his line kicking is short. Given that’s what’s inside them it’s not surprising that Darcy and Duhan are struggling. I’m sure they both know that their Scotland places are in jeopardy because of this.

[Mikey Brown]

Good win in the end, though one they had to get against a poor team.

Douglas man of the match again. He missed a bad tackle and butchered a chance for Duhan but he might just be the best jackaller in the world (I know it sounds crazy but he's that good). Would it be crazy to give him a go in the 6N? He could win us a game and it's maybe best to get him in before he is analysed to death.

As for the other topic of the hour, the wingers, I thought they both tried hard but look like they could do with a rest (and some nice run ins).

Can’t get the image to copy over on my phone but just saw this, with Douglas top of the turnovers/80 stats for all men’s rugby.

https://www.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/s/cqGXjum3RD

[septic 9]

Edinburgh sign a short term centre. Some kiwi no-one ever heard of and us heading to the USA after a couple of months

[BaldiePete]

Everett has been given a 2 year extension. Absolute madness, rewarding failure and incompetence.

[Cameo]

Well well well. The noises a few months ago made it seem that that was their preferred option, but I had thought developments since then would have made them think again.

In one way it is a brave decision. They must have known it would be wildly unpopular.

The only hope is that:

- Injuries are to blame for quite how bad the backline has been.

- He really has been won round by the youngsters.

- At 9 and 10, either someone is coming in or the youngsters have what it takes (I'm sceptical at 10, the young 9s looks promising from what little I've seen).

- His re-appointment has beem driven partly by positivity from the players (and the visible frustration from Graham etc. Is more at the situation/injuries/results).

Either way, this season needs to end well and next one needs to start well. There should be an okay team in there!

[Cameo]

So, Scott Robertson has just been sacked as All Blacks coach. He might be looking for a place to rebuild, maybe after taking a short break until the summer...

Edinburgh probably wasn't the place (Newcastle Red Bulls might be), but he this news will have interested a few chairmen of underperforming teams!

[Cameo]

So, Scott Robertson has just been sacked as All Blacks coach. He might be looking for a place to rebuild, maybe after taking a short break until the summer...

Edinburgh probably wasn't the place (Newcastle Red Bulls might be), but he this news will have interested a few chairmen of underperforming teams!

[BaldiePete]

Zero chance he would move from the AB job to Edinburgh. Prior to that he was the coach of the Crusaders team who won multiple Super Rugby championships. Why on earth would someone with his experience come to a shitty underperforming team like Edinburgh? As you say Newcastle are more likely to interest him. They are also underperforming but in Red Bull they have an owner with vast resources. Is it not more likely though that he’ll end up at the Highlanders, effectively swapping jobs with Jamie Joseph who must be a candidate for the AB job.

[septic 9]

So, Scott Robertson has just been sacked as All Blacks coach. He might be looking for a place to rebuild, maybe after taking a short break until the summer...

Edinburgh probably wasn't the place (Newcastle Red Bulls might be), but he this news will have interested a few chairmen of underperforming teams!

Underperforming coach to interest underperformed teams?

Wish you were talking about Everitt

[BaldiePete]

This week’s lambs to the slaughter. Four first choice players rested on top of the injuries. Satala gets his first start 20 years or so after his dad played for Edinburgh. A rare sighting of Ben Healy who is on the bench. Bath have gone full bore in their selection and I wouldn’t be surprised if Edinburgh are nilled again.

15. Harry Paterson (21)

14. Darcy Graham (90)
13. Piers O’Conor (10)
12. James Lang (84)
11. Malelili Satala*

10. Ross Thompson (33)
9. Ben Vellacott (85) CAPTAIN

1. James Whitcombe (3)
2. Ewan Ashman (46)
3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (7)
4. Callum Hunter-Hill (27)
5. Glen Young (58)
6. Tom Dodd (18)
7. Freddy Douglas (15)
8. Ben Muncaster (51)

Replacements

16. Harri Morris (12)
17. Mikey Jones (3)
18. Paul Hill (25)
19. Euan McVie (1)
20. Connor Boyle (44)
21. Charlie Shiel (83)
22. Ben Healy (41)
23. Jack Brown (7)

Unavailable: Charlie McCaig (knee), Rhys Litterick (achilles), Rob Carmichael (wrist), Mosese Tuipulotu (knee), Tom Currie (knee), Luke Crosbie (hamstring), D’arcy Rae (ankle), Sam Skinner (hamstring), Paddy Harrison (back), Marshall Sykes (arm), Findlay Thomson (hand), Boan Venter (neck), Dylan Richardson (ribs), Grant Gilchrist (quad), Conor McAlpine (hamstring), Matt Currie (hamstring), Duhan van der Merwe (calf), Pierre Schoeman (rest), Magnus Bradbury (rest), Liam McConnell (rest), Wes Goosen (rest).

[Cameo]

I don't think that's too bad a team. The backline doesn't look great, but that's more to do with injuries than who is rested. Schoeman is a loss, but he can't play every week.

I agree though, I suspect they'll be relying on other results.

As for Robertson and the Highlanders, you may be right though if I were him I'd be looking for some distance for a while. Be a bit awkward to hang around in NZ just at a lower level, and his only way back to international level is by going overseas I suspect. Who knows his personal circumstances though.

[Mikey Brown]

Has Healy been injured this whole time or is he really that shit?

[BaldiePete]

Has Healy been injured this whole time or is he really that shit?

Not injured, I think Everitt just doesn’t rate him. It’s fair to say he’s not become what we hoped when he signed but he had a decent first season and got a few Scotland caps. He was never going to be the next Finn but Edinburgh have pretty much ruined a decent player. According to wiki he has 10 caps and rather uniquely for a Scotland player with 10 caps he has never been on the losing side. We lost games when he was on the bench but he never got on the pitch in those games.

[Cameo]

Has Healy been injured this whole time or is he really that shit?

Not injured, I think Everitt just doesn’t rate him. It’s fair to say he’s not become what we hoped when he signed but he had a decent first season and got a few Scotland caps. He was never going to be the next Finn but Edinburgh have pretty much ruined a decent player. According to wiki he has 10 caps and rather uniquely for a Scotland player with 10 caps he has never been on the losing side. We lost games when he was on the bench but he never got on the pitch in those games.

That's made me wonder who else would have a good win ratio. Can't think of anyone who would be 10 and 0, but I suspect a lot of Hastings' caps will have been in wins.

[Mikey Brown]

What a way to celebrate Everitt’s resigning.

[BaldiePete]

What a way to celebrate Everitt’s resigning.

I wish he’d resigned rather than re-signed.