LONG READ URC preview: Judgement looms for Everitt and Edinburgh as Glasgow place faith in 'the young team'

The clatter of studs echoes down the tunnel, and the tang of Deep Heat lingers in the air. Two months after an unrelenting hamster wheel of a season juddered to a halt, the competitive stuff returns. For Scotland’s Lions, the campaign began in June last year with the warm-up fixture against Argentina, and ended 13 months later with three games in the newly minted Nations Championship. Ben White played 33 matches in that time and has already featured in three more for Toulon. Sione Tuipulotu played 36 games, Kyle Steyn and Stafford McDowall 30. Pierre Schoeman was involved in 32, before being reintegrated into domestic training during the first week of September.

What will Schoeman have found on his return to Edinburgh? Sean Everitt has conducted a radical overhaul of the club which, while rough on those leaving, felt wholly necessary. New coaches, new staff, new philosophy. The plan has been brewing for many months, and was cemented during the negotiation of his two-year contract extension. The buzzwords are “fight, care and grow”. Since the early days of Mike Blair’s reign, there has not been anywhere near enough of the latter.

Are Edinburgh much further on from Blair’s poorly handled spell in charge? The league table suggests not. They have finished 10^th, seventh and last season, 12^th, four places and 16 points outside the play-off positions since the former scrum-half’s disappointing exit. There has been little progression in Europe save a run to the Challenge Cup semis two seasons ago. Edinburgh have warehoused Scotland players at substantial expense for too long. They are capable of shooting-star performances – a rousing defeat of Toulon in December, an away win at Munster the February before – which makes the flagrant inconsistency of their work all the more maddening.

Edinburgh have lacked identity and probably suffer for being parked on the doorstep of the union itself. It is hard to foster something unique and authentic when your team can feel like an extension of the establishment. They need a clearer direction.

Everitt wants Edinburgh to play an all-court game and has put in place a coaching team to deliver it. Tim Sampson has a strong pedigree and can give Edinburgh the serrated edge their attack has missed for an age. Brad Davis has been a big hit among the players. As the defence guru, he has quickly become Everitt’s right-hand man, instilling a more aggressive approach out of possession. Medical and physiotherapy personnel have been hired after Edinburgh limped through last season with almost as many first-teamers injured as available. The new hires have been busy, since 14 players are currently out of action. Fitness, too, has been identified as a key focus, if they are to attack Sampson’s way and defend with the zeal Davis demands.

Some parallels exist with Johann van Graan’s early days at Bath. Armed with the millions of Bruce Craig and the Dyson empire, the first thing Van Graan did was appoint new heads of department, before he’d contracted a player or taken a session. Bath wound up as Prem pace-setters and treble winners three years later. But in Van Graan’s first season, they finished eighth and were not necessarily a brilliant watch. Everitt will be acutely aware this is not his first season and patience is running thin. Swathes of the fanbase remain unconvinced he is the man to lead them forwards. The pressure is high and the coming season will define his tenure.

All of which puts Edinburgh and Everitt in a tricky spot. The word ‘transition’ is likely to be bandied about, but supporters who have watched Edinburgh toil for seasons on end will baulk at such language. They will point to the internationals and the Lions and the investment and ask why success continues to elude their team.

Everitt’s two biggest signings, Louie Chapman and Riley Higgins, do not arrive from New Zealand until the completion of the NPC in November. Until then, his squad still looks light in the game-driving positions which hamstrung their capacity to control games and hurt opponents.

To make matters worse, Wes Goosen and Duhan van der Merwe will miss the start of the season through injury. Van der Merwe has scarcely hit top gear in an Edinburgh shirt but the same cannot be said for the ultra-consistent Goosen. Talented full-back Jack Brown is set for a longer spell on the sidelines with serious knee damage. Everitt needs Matt Currie and Mosese Tuipulotu to stay fit in the midfield.

James Grayson has joined as a stopgap fly-half but will see himself as too good and too experienced simply to hold the fort for 12 months. He’s a smart pickup, for sure. Grayson will be Edinburgh’s front-line playmaker and carries the opportunity and responsibility to drive their new blueprint. Edinburgh are expected to go hard at a marquee 10 next season. Fergus Burke is the obvious target. If Edinburgh want Burke, then Newcastle Red Bulls, with their vast investment and Scottish links, could provide serious competition.

For now, Everitt, and Scottish Rugby, are backing what they have seen coming through the ranks. And there is class there, no question. Liam McConnell and Freddy Douglas are Scotland internationals already. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty is a mighty prospect at tighthead who got 15 games last season. Brown took seamlessly to men’s rugby in the back three and it is a crying shame we will not see much of him for some months. Fin Thompson has power and skill in the centres. Hector Patterson is a spiky nine whose game management is improving all the time. Internally, Edinburgh are particularly excited about Christian Lindsay, the Scotland U20 cap with a huge engine and x-factor ability around the park. These players will be challenged to step up and trusted to play a major part in the season.

Where Scotland’s pro-teams may suffer is in the middle section of their squads, the area between senior internationals and academy graduates. The unkind term for these players would be journeymen. But how precious those well-travelled, battle-hardened campaigners can be. Even the most ardent Edinburgh fan might struggle to recall much about Sean Cox, but the English lock played an industrious and pivotal role in their surge to the 2012 Heineken Cup semi-finals. Henco Venter arrived at Scotstoun to little fanfare in 2023 and yet the tears flowed more freely than the Glasgow drizzle when Scottish Rugby would not sanction a new deal for the Afrikaner back-row.

Forget the A-listers at the top or the youngsters breaking through at the bottom, it’s the middle tier of a squad which tends to underpin a season. Who can you recruit in that wage bracket? What impact can they make when the stars are away or recuperating from Test windows? How high are the standards they set? How many games can they play? How capable are they to lead rookies into the teeth of battle? When you’re fighting on two fronts, as Glasgow and Edinburgh hope to this season, you lean heavily on those players. A poor middle tier, and things collapse when the big dogs aren’t around; too much weight is shovelled onto young shoulders. It is one reason the Sharks have foundered so spectacularly, despite having more Springboks than the average game reserve.

At Glasgow, Franco Smith has fostered a clarity of style and positivity of environment which caters to young players stepping up, but there is undoubtedly a void to fill. The Warriors’ scintillating campaign ended in brutal anticlimax; done at home by Toulon after an unbeaten Champions Cup pool stage, then beaten in the URC semi-finals by the Bulls on their big day out at Murrayfield. Huw Jones, Adam Hastings and Jack Dempsey departed in the summer. Glasgow are not exactly paupers but it was financially impossible and fiscally unwise to keep all of those here. With only two pro-teams and little overlap between club and Test rugby, the Scottish ecosystem needs some churn or the kids will not see the game time they need.

Smith gave about as close as he gets to pleading poverty last week when he explained how Glasgow’s budget would not outstrip those of many ProD2 teams in France. Apples and oranges, for no rugby ecosystem is as moneyed as the French, and nor do most ProD2 teams have multiple Six Nations regulars in their ranks.

Smith also explained how coaching and development can usurp cold hard cash. He has brought through academy players in record numbers. Of course, this is not purely altruistic and influenced by the conditions created by his paymasters. The higher bar and stricter criteria for non-Scots signings. But Glasgow have some gems to polish. Seb Stephen could be a World Cup bolter at hooker. He won his first cap against Fiji in July and the Scotland coaches rave about him. Fergus Watson is a massive specimen on the wing and was player of the match on his URC debut. Macenzzie Duncan was wonderfully belligerent whenever Smith picked him in the back-row. Tavi Tuipulotu – at 22, the youngest member of Scotland’s favourite rugby family – carries some intrigue. He is explosive and powerful and has already turned heads in his first Warriors pre-season. Matthew Urin, formerly Scotland’s U20 fly-half, has been nurtured by the iconic Duncan Weir and will hope to make his URC bow.

It is hard to see Glasgow performing quite as magnificently, quite as often as they did for much of last year. But if they can compete for honours while growing this new Scottish core – and all the indications are Smith is capable of doing so – then it will be a price worth paying.

Some observers assume there is little quality coming through the Scottish system. That because, until recently, the U20s have been habitually pounded by their Six Nations rivals the national team will fall off a cliff when its current mainstays retire. The more nuanced evidence indicates otherwise. In fact, you could pick a very solid U23s team from each pro squad and an even better one pooling their resources. Brown at full-back with Watson’s speed and size on one wing and the footwork of Geordie Gwynn on the other. Pick two from Kerr Yule, Johnny Ventisei and Thomson in the midfield. There is a gap at 10 because Jake Dalziel has gone to Newcastle, but Urwin and Ross Wolfenden are pushing for minutes. Either could be partnered by Ben Afshar, Jack Oliver or Patterson, the former now with a dozen Champions Cup involvements. A front-row of Ollie McKenna or Jamie Stewart, plus Stephen and the younger Blyth-Lafferty packs a punch. Dan Halkon is apparently the fastest lock in Glasgow history yet still tips the scales at 120kg. The skyscraper-sized Alex Samuel could act as a foil having already played 61 club games and won four full caps. Plump for a McConnell-Douglas-Duncan loose trio, or add Tom Currie to the mix as a more natural number eight.

Just beyond this age bracket, Jare Oguntibeju has a full year of elite rugby under his belt. Inject more dynamism into his collisions, and what a weapon Glasgow will have. Max Williamson and the immense Gregor Brown are still near the start of their international journeys. Gregor Hiddleston proved himself a Test-match animal in Pretoria. Harry Paterson, Ben Muncaster and Paddy Harrison have much to offer Scotland as well as Edinburgh if they can rid themselves of injury setbacks.

There has been a sea change in Scottish rugby. An understanding it can no longer throw its young players to the wolves. David Nucifora has reshaped the performance pathways and drawn tighter parameters for recruitment. The union is happy to endure some short-term pain if it means accelerating the progression of burgeoning, home-grown players. With Red Bull’s wealth, its geographical proximity and rekindled Caledonian affinity, Newcastle may again provide a welcome home for Scots talent. That talent now, though, will have its chance to prosper. Even in a World Cup season, as players jostle for seats on the plane, this will be the year of youth.