We had almost forgotten what a top choice Edinburgh 23 looked like before the team was announced for this opening round game of the Champions Cup against La Rochelle but when the squad was announced on Friday perhaps only Grant Gilchrist and George Taylor were missing from what you might have considered Edinburgh's starting 15.
I had intended to do a player watch and in advance of the game decided that my focus would be Pierre Schoeman but the prop was subbed off after 60 minutes. In his time on the park he had run around a lot, carried the ball and put in a fair few tackles. None of which is particularly exciting. Perhaps the most notable thing about it was that he didn’t give away any penalties.
Unfortunately neither Edinburgh's strong lineup or Schoeman’s excellent discipline made little practical difference to the way the match panned out. They were pretty much devoid of ideas. Duhan Van Der Merwe, restored to the wing, may as well have sat in hospitality. To give you a yardstick of how underused he was here is his stats from a recent Edinburgh game compared to how he fared against La Rochelle.
Both these games were lost of course so on the face of it these stats mean nothing but given that Van Der Merwe scores so many of our tries you’d think that we should find ways to involve him more. How often do you see 2 or 3 defenders hanging off Duhan as they try to stop him. That’s space elsewhere if you can work out how to use it.
In fairness to him the fact he had the ball 10 times is good work on his part when you realise that Dean passed the ball 4 times and Bennett twice.
It is of little consolation that as the Champions Cup weekend drew to a close all the French sides, home or away, with the exception of Montpellier had won their games. Bristol, Northampton, Sale and Connacht all falling to the French sword.
Complaining that Edinburgh need to use the big winger more may be a moot point however in light of The Rugby Paper announcing that he has agreed to join Worcester Warriors for season 2021-2022. My initial reaction to this was, Worcester? Really? And then on reading further there was apparently the small matter of a contract worth £300,000 per season and my follow up reaction was, I hope there are relegation clauses in that contract.
I’ve discussed this with fellow Edinburgh supporters. We knew that the wolves would be circling and as I've said previously in relation to similar stories about Hamish Watson, crack on and thanks for your service. Still, Worcester?
In fact the more I think about it the more preposterous it sounds. Could it be that the ‘news’ of this transfer was leaked by an agent making it known that his client was available and what the starting price is?
If there is any truth to it then Edinburgh have a choice to make. The league season is FUBAR on a number of levels. Does the club start a player who is running down the clock on his contract, trying not to get hurt and for whom we will all be in the rearview mirror shortly? A player we will hardly see anyway as his international career blossoms? Or, do they acknowledge our league position and start to put their faith and time and energy into those who do have a future at the club?
I say take the hit now and those guys will be better prepared for when it matters.
It's not personal. It's purely business.
Comments
Post a Comment