There was a heady mix of pleasure and pride at the end of the game on Saturday. I thought it was a very disciplined
and at times creative display from the boys and there were some outstanding individual performances.
It does have to be said that Glasgow were poor and to an extent made Edinburgh look good but I felt that regardless
of who the opposition were, that the way we played, anyone would have found it hard going against us on the day.
Plenty of match reports around so I just wanted to pick out a few things that I thought were interesting about the game.
The home (dis) advantage.
I had a bit of a rant on Twitter about the fact that the game was being played at Murrayfield and not at the DAM and stand by that. Some agreed with me and someone else told me that Edinburgh ‘basically have 2 stadiums’.
One of the arguments I have seen supporting the disadvantage theory is that Glasgow would have more players familiar with Murrayfield than Edinburgh would but unfortunately on Saturday that argument fell flat as only 1 of the Edinburgh starting XV hadn't played there before. That might not have been the case if injuries and selections had been different but the only one of the Edinburgh team that was in unfamiliar surroundings was Emiliano Boffelli.
I believe that there is good evidence to prove that despite this Edinburgh were disadvantaged by playing at Murrayfield.
In 2022 Boffelli’s kicking success at the DAM is 85%. On Saturday that dropped to 71% and the two kicks he missed, one penalty and one conversion, would normally have been straightforward. So why should kicking at Murrayfield be different than at the DAM.
Firstly all kickers follow a routine. Routine is easier to keep to if all the elements are the same and I’d include the backdrop in that but more importantly the prevailing wind would be a big factor. There is no doubt that the wind is different at Murrayfield than it is at the DAM for more than one reason. Firstly bigger stands mean less wind impact but at the DAM a kick may well go above stand height. Perhaps more significant is the fact that the DAM runs East to West which makes it fairly unique in Edinburgh where almost every clubs pitches are north/south.
Murrayfield, Meggetland, Myreside, Goldenacre, Raeburn Place, Union Park, all face north/south. This isn’t an accident so the fact that the DAM confounds that means that anyone who has practised there regularly will do better than someone who is an infrequent visitor. Even Nathan Doak missed an easy one at the DAM a few weeks ago and there have been a significant number of failures there by visiting kickers over the course of the season.
So it’s potentially a double edged sword. Our kicker was less successful at Murrayfield than he normally is at the DAM and the game not being at The DAM probably helped Ross Thomson.
At the end of the day it didn’t matter on Saturday but I’d still prefer our home games, especially home 1872 games, to be played at the DAM going forward.
How good was Darcy Graham (and others)?
The return to fitness at this stage of the season by the prince of Hawick has been very welcome. He topped the charts for defenders beaten, clean breaks, and made the most metres. And all of that came from just 6 carries. He even flattened Jack Dempsey in the run up to Edinburgh's third try and made a nuisance of himself all game.
An added bonus to Graham being fit was that it meant Edinburgh could deploy Boffelli at 15 where I think he is at his best. Speaking of Boffelli, how good is the Argentine under the high ball and in traffic too?
I was delighted to see Blair Kinghorn get another try. A try that means he is now Edinburgh’s joint 2nd top try scorer of all time alongside Duhan and Simon Webster. He has a bit to go to catch Visser who is on 69 but he’s only 25 so time is on his side. It’s good to know he is still getting under the skin of his detractors whilst continuing to impress in his new role.
Another 80 minute showing from PIerre Schoeman as well as 71 minutes from the warhorse that is WP Nel who showed us with a lovely overhead offload that it’s not just Tadgh Furlong in the silky hands prop club.
What was good about Edinburgh’s game?
Overall defence and discipline was excellent. Edinburgh made 172 tackles and had a completion rate of 91% which compares favourably with Glasgow’s 131 and 86% rate. It helped that Glasgow’s attack was quite as blunt as it was unlike our own which was inventive and dynamic. Added to that we conceded only 5 penalties in each half which undoubtedly helped us maintain momentum especially in the second half.
Our restarts were much improved from the Wasps game with one notable exception when Muncaster got pinged for not releasing. That led directly to their try.
Our three tries were all collaborative efforts with forwards and backs all getting involved. It makes us harder to play against, means everyone enjoys their role and it's definitely more entertaining.
Sometimes I wish I could make a reel of Edinburgh best non tries this season because some of those have been excellent entertainment.
What Now?
Well at time of writing our URC quarter final against Stormers has been confirmed for 1800hrs on Saturday 4th June 2022 in Cape Town. This won't be easy but only Munster have more points v SA sides this season than Edinburgh and we are the only URC side to get 5 points from their mini tour in SA. So although we drew with Stormers earlier in the season at home I think we can travel in hope. Hope that we bought on Saturday by beating Glasgow.
The big reward for winning the game in Cape Town would be a home semi final in Edinburgh against the winner of Ulster v Munster.
Now I wonder which of our stadia that game will be played at?
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