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'Panicky' Edinburgh deserved to be beaten by Munster
By PA
Mike Blair admitted “panicky” Edinburgh deserved all they got after failing to turn the screw on Munster on Friday.
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The men from the Scottish capital led 12-0 and 17-7 in the first half but were completely dominated after the break as they crashed to a 38-17 defeat at the hands of their Irish visitors.
“I believe these games against the Irish opposition in particular must be played at Test match intensity,” said head coach Blair.
“That’s why I was so pleased with the first half because we blew them away in the first half.
“But it was in complete contrast to the second half because we looked panicky on the ball and lacked all composure.
“There were a couple of bits where we mentally weren’t in it and it was really frustrating. The way Munster came out in the second half, we gave them everything they wanted. We were ponderous on the ball in attack, they won the contact, the physicality and they thoroughly deserved their win.
“The positive is that we showed in the first half we can do it but the negative is the second half, which was a completely different story.”
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Blair admits his side will have to show significant improvement next weekend when they head to Saracens to kick off their Heineken Champions Cup campaign.
“Saracens are nine from nine, they’ve got lots of quality internationals and top-level club players so we’ve got to be on it,” he said.
“We’ve certainly got to be a lot better than we were against Munster.”
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Its a great way to clobber the credibility of a competition....
Go to commentsGreat article. Very well expressed and I loved the part about the ravens leaving the tower. I suppose what's really changed is the advent of professionalism whereby the Six Nations teams are as fit, or fitter, than the Southern Hemisphere sides, which hasn't happened regularly until recently. Southern Hemisphere coaches like Cotter, Jones, Schmidt, Gatland and even Hansen with Wales have added immeasurably to our knowledge pool also. If one were to pick the best team in the world right now, you'd surely think Etzebeth, Koiebiete and Malherbe. But you might just think Dupont, Capuozzo, van der Flier and Beirne before them. That would never have happened when the GOATS McCaw and Carter were around. Happy days and sets the scene for a great tournament where sharp-beaked hawks look set to battle it out with the ravens for supremacy of the tower!
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