A loss to your oldest rival is never easy to take.
However there was much to like about the game and Edinburgh's performance in Saturday’s 1872 Cup 2nd leg.
Firstly though where did the roots of that defeat spring from?
The team.
Prior to the late call offs of Blain and Toolis I thought the side selected looked strong and even after they were replaced by Farndale and Hodgson I wasn’t too concerned. However it was pointed out to me by one of my fellow Edinburgh supporters on Twitter that it was in fact very much a second strength side.
There were 7 players missing from what might be considered the first choice starting Edinburgh XV. Chiefly among those missing were Jamie Ritchie, Darcy Graham, Stuart McInally and DVDM. You may say that Glasgow were also missing a few and I'm sure that's correct but this is an Edinburgh Blog so their personnel issues are of no interest here.
The fact is this. There was a swing of 4 points between winning and losing margins in these two 1872 Cup matches and Edinburgh were down 6 players since the first game who would have started if fit. The impact of that can’t be ignored.
The props.
It would also appear in hindsight that not selecting Nel to start was a major mistake. He dismantled Aki Seiuli in the first game and the impact of him not starting this one meant that the scrum dominance we had in the first leg was entirely absent. Simon Berghan for all his qualities in the loose isn’t a patch on Nel in the scrum.
Even if Kebble (who was due to start the aborted game from last week) had been fit then I still feel that Nel is much more able to deal with him leaving Berghan the easier task of Seuili once the changes were made.
It meant that until the props changed Glasgow were dominant in both the scrum and the lineout where Richie Gray continued where he left off from two weeks ago.
As an aside, could anyone see anything that Edinburgh had done to try and neutralise Grays’ lineout dominance in the intervening period? If there was a plan it may have gone out the window with the late injury to Ben Toolis.
Scrum half.
Would any neutral unfamiliar with either team remember who it was playing scrum half for Edinburgh? Ali Price bossed this particular battle, was a constant threat and unsurprisingly given his dominance he was on for the entire match. The support he gave to Ross Thompson, starting his first PRO14 match, meant the young fly half had an easy ride all the way to a man of the match award. Personally I’d have given that to Huw Jones or Price himself but surely Jim Hamilton knows what he’s talking about? Right?
Edinburgh seem to be adopting the Eddie Jones approach to scrum halves. They are only there to pass to the fly half nothing more.
There was little attacking threat on offer from either of Edinburgh’s regular scrum halves, Groom - 0 carries, Pyrgos 1 carry. In the case of Groom there is more threat of his box kick being charged down than anything else. By 16 minutes of the match he’d had one stopped completely and another touched in the air. This may be technique or it may be forwards not protecting a left footed kicker in the same way they do a right footed one but either way he has been at Edinburgh for two seasons now and that problem is a recurring one.
It’s impossible to write about this game without mentioning the train fiasco. It even prompted Groom to joke about it on Twitter -
I have no issue with the player doing this. I made a similar joke about it myself right after the match finished. His indecision didn’t cost Edinburgh the game, in the same way that Gavin Hastings penalty miss didn’t cost Scotland a place in the World Cup Final.
Finn Russell also used to get some stick for mistakes and then looking like he didn’t care. Unfortunately the difference is 2 minutes later Finn usually did something sublime and brilliant.
Rumours have emerged this week linking Ben Vellacott with Edinburgh. Both Groom and Pyrgos are out of contract at the end of the season. We definitely need to change things up.
Watch this space.
Positives.
Ok, that's the negativity flushed. What was good about Edinburgh in this game?
They scored three tries for only the second time this season. The other time being against Connacht when the total was 4. All 3 were tries from backs and involved something other than forcing a man over from 3 yards following a multitude of rucks (Like that Connacht game).
In addition to the tries there were several line breaks with the ball being moved around and gaps being exploited which was pleasing to the eye. More of this would be good.
Wingers getting the ball is also a welcome development.
Overall
The 1872 cup is still alive despite Glasgow trying to decide otherwise by going for goal at the end of this one. And if by some quirk of fate/covid the third leg can't happen then the trophy will stay with Embra for another year regardless.
We managed a losing BP. This may prove important. We are 7 points behind Cardiff but have 2 games in hand over them. They play Scarlets next week who are a further 2 points ahead and have played 10 games. The two Welsh teams play each other on Friday of this week before our game against Zebre on Saturday. A good win there is a must if we want to close the gap.
Dragons are up next after that with the few remaining rounds thereafter still up in the air. Whoever we have to play in that segment it will probably be during the 6N with all that entails.
There is little wriggle room left if we want to secure a Champions league spot for next year.
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