There are reservations about some Cockerill methods, but this is Edinburgh's chance to turn PRO14 promise into substance
Edinburgh have long yearned to be taken seriously as a force in the Guinness PRO14, to make up the vast ground lost to Glasgow Warriors as Scotland’s premier team and shunt themselves into play-offs and finals with feverish crowds and flashing lenses.
For the first time in what seems like an age, Edinburgh are expected to swat aside their ancient rivals in the successive Murrayfield derbies that end the regular PRO14 season. Richard Cockerill’s men are top of Conference B by two points. Protect that berth and a maiden home semi-final beckons. As little as a solitary point from the inter-city showdowns will book them a place in the last four.
Cockerill inherited a disparate and unreliable squad with little discernible culture and even less respect from its foes across the division. In three years, he has led Edinburgh to a first-ever PRO14 league play-off, a third-ever Champions Cup quarter-final and fostered greater links between the club, its history and its people.
Behind the scenes, there are reservations about some of Cockerill’s methods. His manner with players, choice of language and truculent nature have caused upset. But the results on his watch and the growth of the team have been undeniably brilliant. And so this week’s news that he in talks to extend terms when his current deal expires next summer was met with widespread glee by Edinburgh fans.
The club has needed stability and continuity having ploughed through four permanent and three interim coaches in the decade prior to Englishman’s appointment. The squad, too, has a settled and formidable look to it.
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Edinburgh have kept hold of their biggest players this summer and of the front-liners, only Matt Scott and Simon Hickey left while John Barclay retired. Scott’s departure was hugely avoidable and disappointing given his immense form pre-lockdown, but there is ample depth in midfield. Allowing Hickey to move on coupled with the scuppered signing of Jono Lance, however, leaves Cockerill without a senior alternative to Jaco van der Walt at fly-half. Still, they are in very healthy shape.
In the coach’s early days, the style of play was not enthralling. The focus was on making use of a snarling pack, defending stoutly and following a simple but effective blueprint. That resilience remains. Edinburgh have the second-best defence in the league for tries conceded and have shipped less than half (21) of Glasgow’s 49 in the 13 games so far. The more stringent applications of breakdown laws should suit their jackals, the supreme Hamish Watson and Luke Crosbie. They also have one of Europe’s most destructive carriers in Viliame Mata.
With the kind of attacking weaponry that Edinburgh now wield – even without Darcy Graham a back-three of Duhan van der Merwe, Blair Kinghorn and Eroni Sau is up there with the most devastating in the PRO14 tournament – it would be nice to see them open up a bit more. The evidence suggests that is beginning to happen, but making use of their extra gears in the attack would mark another significant step on their journey in the Cockerill era.
Across the country, Glasgow’s lockdown has been starkly different and potentially transformative. Dave Rennie left for Australia and Danny Wilson took his place, overhauling the coaching staff with only defence specialist Kenny Murray left from the previous regime.
Wilson’s appointment was not universally popular, the perception that he had been shifted from Scotland forwards coach to the top job at Scotstoun out of convenience and low cost rather than his ability. The optics may not be stellar, but Wilson has serious pedigree – he is still revered at Cardiff Blues for the tremendous job he did there in developing young players, performing well in the league and winning the Challenge Cup amidst financial mayhem.
Rennie’s Glasgow were often too soft and too loose, capable of outrageous attacking wizardry but vulnerable to getting opened up without the ball. The weakness was curbed on their run to the final last season but resurfaced in their stuttering campaign to date. That figure of 49 tries conceded – virtually four per game – is ugly and unacceptable. It is also one greater than they lost throughout the entire 21 rounds of last term.
Wilson wants them to defend better – that much is clear – and hone a more effective game management strategy. In his press conferences since taking over, he has stressed the need for a better balance in Warriors’ play, preserving the flair but marrying it with steel and aggression. He points out too that many of those 49 tries have come from turnovers.
The coach is also not averse to throwing curveballs. It has been known for some time that Huw Jones would start Saturday’s game at full-back, but that remains a bold call given the centre has not played the position since moving to Scotland three years ago.
Scotland one up on their English rugby counterparts https://t.co/Yim9ZWqvmN
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Were it not for the coronavirus-enforced recruitment freeze across Scottish rugby, Wilson would have signed a recognised full-back by now, but his options for the foreseeable future are limited. Glenn Bryce is on the bench this weekend, the burgeoning Rufus McLean will be drip-fed in during the new season, and Tommy Seymour shifted across from the wing for much of the previous campaign.
Jones, who has struggled to nail down a starting berth at Warriors, could make the jersey his own, but that is unlikely to bolster his Scotland prospects with captain Stuart Hogg and Kinghorn the established men at 15.
Glasgow are without Leone Nakarawa, who is due to return from Fiji in the coming weeks following the birth of his first child, but the return of Richie Gray is an excellent fillip. His partnership with the outstanding Scott Cummings has massive potential.
They have a terrific front-row with Oli Kebble, newly anointed captain Fraser Brown and Zander Fagerson, and that battle with Rory Sutherland, Stuart McInally and WP Nel will be immense. They have Scotland’s two best scrum-halves, Ali Price and George Horne, as well as the swashbuckling Adam Hastings and a massive attacking arsenal outside him. There are captivating showdowns wherever you look.
The depth across the pro-teams will be tested like never before this autumn. Each squad could conceivably lose 15 players or more to international duty, and there has been scant chance to recruit while the pandemic decimates resources. It is an opportune time to be an academy player pushing for first-team minutes and we will see a swathe of youngsters given their shots as the big dogs depart.
Word from inside the two camps has been startlingly different these past few weeks. Glasgow players have spoken of their gradual progression, learning new systems and new calls, and quick, invigorating sessions under Wilson and his staff. Edinburgh’s talk of physical beastings and doing contact virtually every day since team training was authorised.
These games will be fascinating contests. Edinburgh are favourites, no question, but how will they handle that novel weight of expectation? Glasgow are a seriously dangerous opponent with nothing to lose, a bitter rival to knock off course and a new coach to impress. This is unfamiliar ground for them too, but for different reasons.
Edinburgh are exactly where they and Cockerill want to be – this is their chance to turn PRO14 promise into substance.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
36 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments