For most rugby players summer is a chance to rest their weary bones and prepare mentally and physically for the new season. A total of 12 players who had played last season at Edinburgh however carried on playing at various levels for their countries or entities.
There would have been more had Scotland's games against Georgia, Romania and England A not fallen foul of Covid.
There were 13 Edinburgh players including new recruits Ben Vellacott, James Lang and Adam McBurney selected in the squad for these aborted games. Jamie Ritchie was to captain the side and the likes of Jack Blain, Jamie Hodgson, Charlie Shiel and Luke Crosbie would all have been looking forward to pushing for their first senior Scotland starts. Let's hope they get another chance.
The players who did get some summer rugby were subject to varying degrees of fortune.
British & Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions tour that we thought might not happen but then did and when it did Scots, and Edinburgh players, current and recently past, featured throughout the tour.
Let's start with oor Mish. Hamish Watson, the man they said was too small to the point it became really really boring missed out against Japan at his home ground as a result of a concussion incurred in training. He made up for it with a Man of The Match display against the Sigma Lions. Top carrier and top tackler and 3rd for defenders beaten with only Elliott Daly and Josh Adams ahead of him.
He got 20 minutes off the bench against the Sharks in match 1 against them with the game already well won. He then started the second game against the Durban franchise and got 60 more minutes in a red shirt. The Sharks rattled the Lions in the first half but the fact that the top 9 tacklers in the game were all Sharks players told how hard they were working to manage that. In the second half the Lions pulled away. A quieter game by Watson’s high standards but he kept up his 100% tackle completion rate.
He missed out against South Africa A before being brought back into the starting XV for the game against The Stormers. He played the full 80 in this one and although it felt like a routine game for Hamish he was again The Lions top tackler.
He was selected on the bench for the first test and was introduced to the action in the 56th minute. He was lucky shortly thereafter to avoid at least a yellow card for a tip tackle on Willie Le Roux. he didn't get much of a chance to get his hands on the ball in the remainder of the game only making 3 carries and in defence only made 3 tackles.
On the back of that quieter game Hamish dropped out of the squad altogether for the second test with his place being taken by Taulupe Faletau. The Welsh cap didn't fare much better off the bench with his stats and time on the pitch being remarkably similar to those posted by Mish in the first test with the solitary difference being The Lions won the first test!
Hamish was not selected for the squad for the third test. I can’t help feeling that this was a mistake on the coaching team's part. Tom Curry had a mare and although it’s impossible to say with any certainty I don’t think Mish would have given away half as many penalties and would probably have made more than 2 tackles.
Duhan Van Der Merwe had a hugely successful start to his time with The Lions. It’s easier just to say that by the time the first test came around he was top tourist for metres gained and for clean breaks, 2nd only to Josh Adams for tries scored, had 1 man of the match award(v Sigma Lions) and was unlucky not to get another v The Stormers. He had played all 80 minutes of 4 of the warm up matches but wasn’t in the 23 against South Africa A.
He was selected to start the first test and had a very good game albeit not in the traditional Duhan metres made, defenders beaten and tries scored. Instead he was a defensive rock in this match. Tackles, offloads, helping out with rucks. Most importantly he completely nullified the threat from Cheslin Kolbe who only made 3 runs for 16 metres in the whole game. Duhan was subbed at 70 minutes.
In the second test he looked a little more vulnerable. The game itself was a horror show. Not one pass made it to Duhans wing and although Kolbe was similarly shorn of possession it was little consolation to van Der Merwe as he struggled a bit under the South African aerial bombardment. He also got yellow carded for a kick that floored Kolbe although that looked more like a mistimed attempt to kick the ball than the player.
He was retained (surprisingly in some quarters) for the third test and despite still not really being used enough he lasted the full 80 minutes and beat 5 defenders (joint top) and only 3 Lions players, all forwards, made more tackles than he did.
Overall I think he can be happy with his contribution and despite the negative tactics deployed in the tests that deprived him of the ball I believe his reputation has been enhanced as for the most part he was able to show that he can defend and contribute in that aspect of the game as well as being devastating with the ball in hand.
Rory Sutherland’s Lions career started well with 52 minutes against Japan at Murrayfield that enhanced his scrummaging credentials. He missed out against the Sigma Lions before coming back into the 23 for a spot on the bench against The Sharks in match 1. He caught the eye with a rampaging break in the midfield and offload that Price was just unable to collect and also held the line defensively with 11 tackles.
In game 2 against The Sharks Suzz started and got 56 minutes on the field. This game showed his ability in the loose with an impressive 9 carries.
Up to this point Sutherlands scrummaging had held up well in comparison to his fellow Lions loosehead competitor Wyn Jones but Jones got the nod against South Africa A and did well. When Rory got another opportunity in the next game against The Stormers his level of performance dipped ever so slightly. A couple of conceded scrum penalties seemed to lead to Jones getting the nod for the first test.
Sutherland did keep a spot on the bench for the first test which only a few hours before kick off became a starting berth as Wyn Jones failed to recover from a shoulder injury. He got 56 minutes before being subbed for Mako Vunipola and unfortunately for Sutherland he conceded a couple of scrum penalties in the first half and then the England international appeared to make a better fist of his stint albeit against a different front row. There was also the sneaking suspicion of different tactics in the scrum for the latter stages of the game.
Rory was on the bench for the second test with Vunipola getting the nod to start this time around. He did get on at 56 minutes but in keeping with almost the entire Lions side he didn’t really shine and was pinged for another couple of scrum penalties.
He was not involved at all in the 3rd test. Starter or off the bench for props is almost immaterial in this day and age but it still seems the pecking order for the looseheads went from Jones/Sutherland/Vunipola to Vunipola/Sutherland/Jones(inj) to Jones/Vunipola/ Sutherland in a very short space of time.
Fiji
Fiji played two tests against the All Blacks. Current Edinburgh players Mesulame Kunavula and Lee-Roy Atalifo as well as recent departee Eroni Sau all played a part in the tests.
Unfortunately for Fiji they were unable to field their strongest side with some first choice players stranded in Australia and unable to travel. Their preparations were also disrupted by a row over whether the players would wear jerseys with a message promoting COVID vaccinations on the island nation. In the end the message was left off the team strips in both tests.
I was unable to watch these two games in full, there’s only so many channels I can afford to subscribe to so my assessment of the games and our players' contributions are based on media reports and highlights only.
In match one Kunavula and Sau both started. Atalifo had to be content with a place on the bench.
In the end New Zealand ran out 57-23 winners but Fiji made a real fist of it. This was the least number of points the AB’s have scored against Fiji and the most that Fiji have scored against the AB’s. One headline in the aftermath suggested that the Fijians had bullied New Zealand and that national coach Ian Foster’s job was on the line.
Eroni topped the metres made column for Fiji and had 2 clean breaks. Kunavula scored one of Fiji’s tries after a fine, down the short side, line out move that saw him receive an offload to crash over in the corner. He was subbed after 53 minutes. Sau played the full game and was Fiji’s top man for metres made.
Lee-roy Atalifo got 20 minutes off the bench in this and the second test.
The second test was a much more straightforward win for the All Blacks by 60-13. The 9 tries they scored included a hat trick for Fijian born Sevu Reece.
Eroni Sau didn’t feature in this match having injured his eye socket in a training incident. Mesu started though and got 69 minutes. He managed to beat 3 defenders in this game which was the best for Fii, perhaps highlighting the nature of the game.
Scotland U20
Scotland's U20’s took part in their 6N event. All the matches were played in Cardiff at The Arms park to keep everyone in a Covid free bubble. On that score it was a success as a tournament but Sean Lineen’s young charges had a hard time. They didn’t manage a single win and conceded in excess of 30 points in every match.
Many of the side are eligible to play at this level again next year so it’s not all doom and gloom.
There were a few lads in the squad aligned with Edinburgh. Ben Muncaster and Patrick Harrison who both have had first team exposure in the Rainbow Cup for the club played a lot of minutes.
Harrison started 4 out of 5 matches and got time off the bench against Italy. He finished the tournament as Scotland’s top try scorer with 3 of the 8 overall. I thought he looked good in the full games I saw and was perhaps unlucky to get hooked at 48 minutes against Wales following a couple of errors either side of the half time whistle. The lineout in that match suffered after his departure.
Ben Muncaster also started 4 out of 5 games however his subs bench time was against France. He captained the side against England as well as taking over the captaincy against Wales in the second half. He picked up a try of his own also against Wales with a short range drive that gave Scotland the lead just into the second half. It was clear to see he had significantly more senior game time than some of the others in the Scotland pack and was combative throughout the tournament.
Harri Morris unfortunately got sent off in Scotland's first game against Ireland for an illegal challenge in the air. That kept him on the naughty step until the last game when he got a start against Wales but was subbed at 53 minutes
3 other players, aligned to Edinburgh’s Academy who haven’t tasted first team duty also played a part in the tournament.
Cameron Scott Started 4 games but wasn’t selected for the matchday squad against France. He had a particularly good day with the boot against Wales knocking over 3 conversions and a penalty, a couple of those were tricky too.
Against Ireland he knocked through a cute grubber that got Scotland their only score of the game after a good lineout drive by Patrick Harrison. Scott finished the tournament as Scotland’s top points scorer.
Scott King played in 4 games and was unlucky to miss out on a try at the death against England for a foot in touch.
Cole Lamberton featured off the bench against Italy and got 80 minutes under his belt against Ireland.
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