Due to COVID, revolving doors are a big no no so the separate entrances and exits at Edinburgh rugby have been busy over the last few weeks with at least 9 players having been signed, re-signed or released to seek their fortune elsewhere either with immediate effect or after the rainbow-ish cup.
I’m not going to go through all of these moves but will highlight some and make comment on these moves.
Let's start with the departures.
Nic Groom. Really wasn’t the scrum half I thought we were getting and I get the impression he was never really comfortable in Edinburgh. He wasn't as attack minded as his early games seemed to promise and his box kick was always liable to be charged down, which, given the way we play isn’t a recommendation. As it stands I think the 9 berth now has better balance and variety.
Mike Willemse. Scored a few tries for us but also threw some very dodgy arrows and was prone to a last minute game killing penalty. Ironically one of his best games for Edinburgh was after it was announced he was leaving. Too little and too late but it may have got him a place at London Irish.
Fraser McKenzie. We probably all expected the road had come to an end for Fraz with him having been out injured for so long but it was still a significant disappointment as he was a rock that our non international side relied on. I know there were many other reasons for the shit show that was season 20-21 but his influence has definitely been missed.
Along with the Groom departure Edinburgh also released Sam Kitchen whom we really didn't see very much of. Those two being announced on the same day will at the very least have upped the SQ percentage in the squad that so many focus on with every move the club announces.
On the arrival front hooker Adam McBurney was announced in March and from what I’ve seen of him seems to be a very positive recruit. He is another that ticks that SQ box as does April announcement Freddie Owsley, who is apparently very quick. April also saw second row Pierce Phillips (not SQ) announced as joining from already relegated Agen. He’s apparently very tall. It remains to be seen what impact these latter two names will have. I have higher hopes for McBurney.
Contract dates are now a closely guarded secret but there are three players remaining who we know are definitely out of contract at the end of season 20-21 that we have had no announcement about to date. Darcy Graham, Eroni Sau and Murray McCallum. I’d like to think we will be looking to retain all of those but the order I've written them in unconsciously might suggest their importance.
See here for the confirmation of Darcy’s contract extension news from back in 2019. Bookmark it as a curiosity. A relic of a bygone age.
https://www.edinburghrugby.org/the-clubhouse/news-graham-latest-commit-future-edinburgh
So there may be other departures that we just aren’t privy to at this time but meantime in the absence of that information here's a table showing Edinburgh's depth for next season barring any further moves.
As it stands 78% of the senior squad are Scots qualified.
The somewhat underwhelming Rainbow-ish cup kicks for Edinburgh on Friday night against Zebre. As you know this is now a Europe based competition only so playing a side whose name suggests they might be from South Africa is as close as it's going to get for a while. That’s disappointing because those inter continental games at least may have offered something a bit different.
More games against the same old opposition in a cobbled together fairly meaningless competition is not raising my pulse any. I’ll still be watching though. It is rugby after all.
So, from an Edinburgh perspective I think all we can hope for now is a chance to see some of the wider squad get a chance so that when the PRO14 restarts properly we are in a better place to compete.
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