That’s a wrap for 2020 as far as Edinburgh Rugby is concerned. No 1872 match now until January 2021 and that’s looking decidedly dodgy too.
Thankfully, the year ended on a high on the field for the
club after a difficult spell but the challenges of sport during COVID aren’t
going to go away so it may only be a brief respite. That remains to be seen.
So, I thought we should maybe take a quick look at the game
against Sale Sharks and then reflect on how the season has gone so far, who has
stepped up in adversity and make some assessment of what has gone wrong and what,
if anything, has gone right.
Sale Sharks
Game of two halves anyone? That’s exactly what we got here.
The biggest surprise at half time was that we were only 12-0 down. Sale seemed
sharper in almost every department and although their second try was
ridiculously forward (and we’ll cover that shortly) the speed of thought and
invention that led to it typified the difference in that first period.
Regardless of the narrow margin at half time I had no
expectation of a recovery in the second half, so the complete reversal of
fortunes was as unexpected as it was welcome. Edinburgh went from having 40%
territory in the first half to 60% territory in the second as they dominated
the remainder of the game. It still felt like we were struggling for a cutting
edge though which is a recurring facet of our play at the moment.
In what became a very close game our discipline was a big factor in our ultimate success as we
conceded only 3 penalties in the half..
The only other time this season we’ve bettered that total was against
Scarlets and that had a similarly tight scoreline.
Man of the match was given to Hamish Watson and that’s fine
but there were also outstanding performances from Jamie Hodgson (topped the
tackle count for Edinburgh again), Blair Kinghorn, Magnus Bradbury, and Jack
Blain, who despite not getting the freedom to run he has had at fullback did an
excellent job of deputising for Darcy Graham.
The family competition between the Van Der Merwe’s I have to
judge as a draw. Akker probably had a better game (he was involved), but Duhan’s
team won so that has to count for something.
That forward pass?
I tweeted about this and posted this picture (ignore the reflection of the tree lights haha)
Here are two other pictures. The first shows where the pass was made from and the second where it was caught. The prosecution rests.
Where has it gone wrong?
The headline reasons for the indifferent start to this
season for Edinburgh are very straightforward and can be summed up in two
words. International Rugby. If you are in any doubt about the effect that has had then consider this. Ulster had only 4 players in the Ireland squad for the autumn series and are currently undefeated at top of conference B. We do need to look a little closer to see the effect that had had beyond mere results though.
The first thing to look at is the number of players who have
made their debut in the 9 matches Edinburgh have had this year compared to the
same run last year.
Debuts
|
2020-2021 debuts in opening 9 games |
2019-2020 debuts in opening 9 games |
|
Dan Nutton |
Nick Haining |
|
Nathan
Chamberlain |
Nic Groom |
|
Jack Blain |
Mike Willemse |
|
Connor Boyle |
Mesulame
Kunavula |
|
Andries
Ferreira |
Jamie Bhatti |
|
Andrew
Davidson |
Sam Thomson |
|
Sam Grahamslaw |
Murray
Douglas |
|
Dan Gamble |
Eroni Sau |
|
Marshall
Sykes |
|
|
Rory Darge |
|
|
Alex Coombes |
|
|
Lee-Roy
Atalifo |
|
So not only were there fewer debuts at the start of 2019-20 the
profile of the players who did make their debut is enormously different. Only
really Atalifo and Ferreira from the class of 20 - 21 had any experience at
this level.
Although it’s great to see young guys get a chance too many
newbies all at once isn’t really a good thing.
As an aside its interesting to note that 10 of the 12
players given a debut this season are Scots qualified.
After 9 games we’ve played similar opposition to that which
we faced last year by the same stage. I had assumed that our discipline has
been costing us overall. It certainly did against Ulster when we conceded 15
penalties. But overall, despite having won only 3 out of 9 we’ve conceded less
penalties. So, if discipline is good, we must be losing games elsewhere and
when you see we’ve scored almost half the number of tries whilst conceding a
little bit less than double you don’t have to look too far.
|
Year |
Penalties
conceded |
Tries scored |
Tries
conceded |
|
2019-2020 |
78 |
26 |
17 |
|
2020-2021 |
68 |
14 |
28 |
The losses therefore are understandable but what is harder to fathom why are we scoring less and conceding more?
The lack of consistency and experience in selection is part of it but our midfield is probably the most settled part of the team. In 7/9 games we’ve fielded the same midfield partnership and of all the players who’ve played centre this season only George Taylor has less than 45 appearances. The players have experience and have played together a lot so what does that leave? Coaching, maybe.
Here’s the kicker. Not one Edinburgh try this season
has been scored by a winger.
Our attack play is one dimensional and very easy to read
barring individual pieces of brilliance.
Where has it gone right?
This is a short section which would have been even briefer
had it not been for the morale boosting win against Sale. In a lot of ways this enforced break isn’t
doing the team any favours but perhaps beyond being uplifting that win can be a
spark for the remainder of the season, whatever form that takes.
It certainly means we retain interest in the Champions Cup if
not then at least a place in the Challenge Cup is much more likely.
Some of our young players have really made a fist of their
opportunities. Jack Blain has been excellent and has made absences in the back
three much more palatable. All of our young second rows have been good. Jamie
Hodgson in particular has caught my eye.
In challenging financial circumstances our stadium is
finished and is now just waiting on crowds being allowed in before we play
there.
Despite not being able to be there it certainly feels to me
that club and supporters are closer now than has ever been the case before. The
efforts made by the club towards fan engagement have been excellent. Fans have
rallied round with the ER Fans page on Facebook leading the way with player
sponsorship. Fans have donated their season ticket monies and even bought Castle
Club memberships with little or no expectation of any sort of return on that
and fans have gone to bat when the club has had to defend signing policies or
stadium design.
Despite everything that has happened and the on-field
difficulties the club has faced when that stadium opens properly it will be
filled week in and out. There are no glory hunters among our support. Take that
to the bank.
That’s my only prediction. A full stadium.
The rest, who the hell knows. I know we will have to endure
another lengthy period of international disruption in the new year and that’s
about it.
The league may not even get finished or may end up with 16
sides before its done.
There may be a Lions tour and there might even be Edinburgh
players involved.
We will probably lose a few players. As I write Jamie Bhatti
is off to Bath in search of playing time. Others are in demand and may see some
greener grass with deeper pockets as being desirable. Who can fault them for
that?
To paraphrase a famous quote, “the future is another country”.
At the moment we don’t even know what
colour our passports will be or if we will be allowed to travel.
I’ll leave the predictions to Nostradamus.
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