Edinburgh Rugby

Five days later, the result at Murrayfield last weekend still seems somewhat miraculous. For a country reeling from the wooden spoon their side earned at the Six Nations, Edinburgh's 19-14 defeat of French powerhouse Toulouse was about more than advancing in the Heineken Cup. It was about more than cashing in on the deluge of gate receipts and merchandise sales as nearly 40,000 rugby fans poured into the stadium. Edinburgh's victory just might save Scottish rugby.

Being in the crowd last Saturday was a surreal experience. Over the last twenty minutes, there was a profound impulse running through the stadium as every line out and tackle galvanized the fan base and reflected back on the team in black and red. Not even the world's best player, Thierry Dusautoir, could match it. But before the match, it would have been difficult to find many of the Scottish side's fans who believed their team could win. 

Scottish rugby fans been diligently schooled in the art of skeptical cheering. They paint their faces, put on their team's jersey, and avidly buy tickets. But beneath overt dedications of devotion resides an cynical undercurrent that invades their cheers and fuels their disappointment. It is as if they are always waiting to say, "Great. Here we go again."

This is not a criticism. Scottish rugby fans have endured one of most prolonged spells of international and professional mediocrity the sport has ever seen. Rugby factories in the Borders region have seemingly dried up and a lack of funds have doomed Scotland's two professional teams, Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors, to the bottom of their leagues. 

Just look at this year's Six Nations Tournament. With the exception of the wooden spoon match against Italy and the second half at Aviva Stadium, Scotland played well. They could very easily have beaten England and France. Who knows what could have been in Millennium Stadium had two trips to the sin-bin not sealed their fate. Yet despite positive play, Scotland emerged winless.

But something changed in Murrayfield on Saturday. Maybe it was being a part of the largest Heineken Cup crowd in Scottish history. Maybe it was that the players on the field, lead by Scotland skipper Ross Ford and the superb Greig Laidlaw, looked like a team possessed from the opening kick. Or maybe it was just that Scotland, a country that lives for rugby, was tired of taking one step forward and two steps back.

To be fair, Glasgow Warriors also deserve a lot of credit for shifting the sport's culture in Scotland this season as well. While Edinburgh has slipped to second from the bottom in the RaboDirect Pro 12 standings, Glasgow are fighting for a playoff spot and have been without question the stronger professional team in Scotland this season. But paired with last weekend's result, the professional teams in Scotland are taking back the sport. 

Both teams have been actively bringing in new players over the last few months and looking to build on their successes this season. And more importantly, both sides are not content. They are hungry. And so are Scottish rugby fans.

So what happens if Edinburgh lose to Pro 12 rivals Ulster in three weeks? Will of this positive energy dissipate? 

When Scotland scrum half Mike Blair slithered his way over the try line just one minute and 32 seconds into the match last Saturday, the 37,000 in Murrayfield were overjoyed. In my section one fan yelled, "Had enough yet Toulouse?"

I think we have our answer. Scottish rugby is back.

The last ten days have been exciting for Edinburgh Rugby to say the least.

After the announced signing of South African star WP Nel last week, team officials gave their fans more reason to cheer by extending the contract of winger and try-machine Tim Visser yesterday. It seems the team has continued its signing frenzy as the team announced it had reached an extension agreement with Scotland winger Lee Jones until 2014. 

Keeping Jones and Visser is a bold step as Edinburgh attempts to join the elite ranks of professional rugby.

Although not as prolific a scorer as the Dutchman, Jones has proven himself as a reliable scorer for the Black and Red, finishing five tries in 16 appearances. Retaining Jones also demonstrates the organization's desire to keep its own talent from leaving for other places in Europe.

The explosive runner has come a long way since his first professional contract with Selkirk and thrilling Scottish fans on the country's sevens team. After earning his first chance to play with Edinburgh in the 2010-11 season, Jones had a strong campaign in the team's Heineken Cup run last season.

An excited Jones spoke with the media Tuesday afternoon, labeling the Edinburgh organization as a key element into his improvement over the last few seasons.

"In my first year as a professional player I had to adjust to the daily intensity in training and the speed and physicality of the matches,"  he said. "But, a season on, I've adapted to those demands and am now happy that I am bringing a consistency to my performances for the club."

While Jones is certainly thrilled with his extension, he will have little time to celebrate as he and his Scotland teammates prepare to face France in the Six Nations on Sunday. Jones is sure to receive a generous ovation from his fans at Murrayfield.

What a start to the week for Edinburgh Rugby.

Although the disappointing loss over the weekend to Newport-Gwent Dragons will certainly sting, the team announced today that it has locked-up winger Tim Visser through the 2015 season. The emerging star scored a record 14 tries for the Black and Red Army last season and his extension is sure to thrill Edinburgh fans. 

Since joining Edinburgh in 2009, the native Dutchman has excited Murrayfield crowds by scoring more tries than any other player in his first two years in the RaboDirect PRO12. A potent scorer, Visser's new deal comes as Edinburgh prepare for a quarterfinal Heineken Cup match against Toulouse on April 7 and as team looks to get back on track next week in the PRO12 against Connacht.

Visser spoke with reporters today about his confidence and excitement, about his new contract and how his team attempts to move on from Saturday's defeat.

"I am delighted to have secured this extension which will now allow me to focus on improving my game for another three years at a club on the up." Visser's enthusiastic comments allude to Edinburgh as a team poised for major improvements.

Adding to the delight in Edinburgh was last week's signing of 25-year-old prop WP Nel. Although the South African bruiser will not join his new teammates until July, Nel is another jolt for an organization looking add to a roster that is currently missing nine players competing in the Six Nations Championship. Known internationally for his durability and power, Nel has become renowned for his impressive bouts with Springbok force Tendai Mtawarira. 

With players like David Denton, Greig Laidlaw, and Mike Blair missing as they compete for Scotland in the Six Nations, adding Nel and keeping Visser helps ensure that Edinburgh has a young and talented core looking to the future. 

Head coach Michael Bradley identified this type of long-term thinking as constant and vital task for Edinburgh as they seek to improve.

"Not only are we preparing to be the first Scottish club to host a quarterfinal in the Heineken Cup," he said.  "We are working exceptionally hard behind the scenes to ensure we have the right players in place so we can continue to break new ground and celebrate even greater successes in the years ahead." 

Hardly the only side to lose players to the Six Nations, Edinburgh has struggled in the past weeks and even added Argentinian prop Ulises Gamboa to provide depth. But the Visser and Nel contracts should serve as a warning to the rest of the PRO12. Edinburgh is not ready to call it's quarterfinal appearance in the Heineken Cup an aberration. They are ready to take the next step.

Ulster 21-13 Edinburgh

Edinburgh failed to deal with the conditions and a determined Ulster pack in a first half when they had the wind, leaving them unable to take the win they could probably have claimed with a solid performance going into the wind in the second half.

David Young had settled down in defence from his earlier over-exuberant Edinburgh appearances, but still found his way into the sin-bin early on.

Ulster couldn’t really kick the penalties, such was the wind (Humphries did attempt one ridiculous banana job that came close), but they excelled in holding on to the ball and depriving Edinburgh of possession.

Mossy kicked the few chances they got—for kicking at goal the wind was no real help either—and they went in at halftime with a lead. When they finally got possession in the second half, they proved particularly adept at holding on to it for more than 20 phases without ever really moving forward, despite crash ball runners like Ford and Hamilton.

Perhaps aware of his troubles on the pitch and the resultant slaggings off it, Phil Godman was particularly targeted by Ulster with a few big hits and the backline mostly failed to get the ball wide to Visser and Thomson.

When they eventually did, a try came for Thomson very similar to last week’s one, but Ulster finished the game as they had started, controlling possession and watching Edinburgh huff and puff but go nowhere.

It may be a lack of depth at Edinburgh, but some of the willy-nilly sub-hurling from about 50 minutes onwards is worryingly Hadden-esque; some of the replacements were not quite up to standard and putting them on the park just because you can (especially when removing the likes of Laidlaw) seemed like a backwards step, especially when the result is still within reach.

As with the 1872 Cup games, this Heineken Cup campaign has proved to be largely a triumph of content over style. Glasgow and Ulster have the content, and Edinburgh can’t seem to get their style going.

Scotland 6N squad announcement expected on Wednesday!

Edinburgh Beats Cardiff Bluesn 21–12

Edinburgh finally woke up as a team for the first time in a month or two to provide the sort of display the hardy faithful at Murrayfield were growing accustomed to at the start of the season.

Gone is the 1872 Cup and most likely the chance of Heineken Cup glory, but the capital team still has a chance for an end-of-season playoff spot. After coming in second last season, it should really be a minimum expectation.

For now, this win puts them in third, but Leinster now has two games in hand (one against Connacht). The rest of the league has one due to all the postponements this weekend.

The try drought was eased by a couple of cocky darting breaks from the impressive Rory Hutton. He has brought a spark to an Edinburgh attack that had allowed indecision to creep into the Cardiff defence and be capitalised on by the support runners.

I thought he looked pretty decent in defence too—Cardiff didn’t send Jamie Roberts at him nearly as much as they should have—with a couple of good tactical kicks. Although his passing was a little haphazard, there is no substitute for the will to attack.

Overall, Edinburgh dominated in attack and defence for large chunks of the game until discipline threatened to let Cardiff back in later on. Roddy Grant made an interesting looking No. 8 but was the usual hive of industry. He would surely have been Seren Y Gem but for a late sin-binning. So they gave it to Ross Rennie instead who was at least playing in his proper position.

Jim Hamilton looked twice the player he was last week (For starters, he made Ford’s lineouts look a lot better). Both Ford and Chunk made their usual excellent contributions in the loose, including a scything Mike Blade-style break from the base of the ruck from the prop that could only be described as epic.

It’s the first leg of the 1872 Cup this weekend, as matters turn parochial.

Brother on brother, blood on blood; Chris on Chris, Thom on Thompson, Brown vs Blair, DTH vs DC, Vernon vs Visser, Cross, Ross and Ross vs Dan, Dan, John and Johnnie, that sort of thing—basically civil war.

That sentence would have been a lot easier with Welsh names.

The first leg is in Glasgow, the second in Edinburgh, and it’s hard to see past the home teams in each fixture. Still, I have a sneaky suspicion that Glasgow will come out the better over two legs.

Edinburgh are struggling (as always) to find a cutting edge, and their attacking form seems to revolve around Godman, who is treading water at the moment, while Glasgow now seem to play all right, even when Parks is having one of his duff days—and even those have been rare recently.

While Edinburgh seem to be building a team based on familiarity and combinations, Glasgow seem to be building a team based on leadership (Barclay, Kellock, Cusiter, Thomson, Gregor, McMillan and Grey have all captained Scotland at age group, sevens or international level), and the team seems to be coming together from the increased confidence that brings.

Sean Lineen had seen the improvement in Edinburgh, and maybe realised he might be under threat if his team didn’t start living up to the promise of the squad he was building, having changed from a policy of duff foreigners to promising youngsters, and this season they seem to be repaying him.

The “inconsistent” tag still rears its ugly head every so often (second half at Gloucester) but this season they have started winning away, and they just look a lot more confident when their top lineup takes the field. Gallus, you might say.

More importantly: Who will the commentators be? Andy Nicol summarises for the Beeb, while Scott Hastings summarises AND commentates for Sky.

Given they both present on the STV highlights show, I would imagine they will be present, but as pundits, commentators or both? I would imagine it will be the two of them running back and forth between pitchside and commentary booth.

Let’s face it, STV is short of cash these days, so I doubt they can afford to draft in the legendary Runrig soundalike Andrew Cotter (just listen to that tune Murrayfield play at half time—you know, the one about Scotland), and he is probably manacled to the BBC.

Unless STV feels the spirit of Christmas past and signs up Doddie Weir’s all-conquering trousers…

During whiteout conditions at Murrayfield on Saturday, where the weather played a larger role than either of the teams for a chunk of the first half, Edinburgh managed to grab a victory against Bath.

It was a pity the snow came in when it did, as both teams were showing a willingness to throw the ball about. But when the ball became invisible in a sea of white, it became time for a very cold game of hot potato (mixed in with a little Dead Ants).

Mossy’s boot saved Edinburgh as it has so often. While I have often been reluctant to wade in on the whole "Mossy at 10" thing, Godman’s form seems to be waning. While Mossy seems to have gained a yard of pace, he gets turned over in the tackle far less and his tactical kicking is miles better than it was, and miles ahead of Godman.

He has surely done enough to be the front runner for the Scotland 15 shirt, with Hugo a close second (who honestly believed he would be a regular at Stade?).

But is he worth a look at 10 for Edinburgh, as so many have suggested? This is assuming Rory Lamont remains in the injury information black hole he is currently in.

While Robbo has been telling anyone who will listen about Scotland’s deficiencies in the 10 position, is Mossy finally worth a shout, having made his tactical game a bit, well, more Dan Parks-esque?

Speaking of Parks, he controlled the game against Gloucester extremely well in the first half, while Barclay led the forwards in a master class in frustrating the opposition. For a game with so many Scot-on-Scot match-ups, there was plenty of niggle, and no doubt a sign of what is to come next weekend. The Weej seem to excel in this area, which could be a problem for Edinburgh.

Yet in the second half Gloucester came out and pretty much reversed the situation, bullying Glasgow off their 0-6 lead and the ball and sharpening up their attack enough to take the victory.

A raft of late-term substitutions probably did not help Glasgow—much in the same way  it buggered up Edinburgh last week—with Cusiter going off and replacement McMillan then having to hide at the back with an injury, while Gregor filled in at scrum half.

This only served to rob Glasgow of Gregor’s running lines and pace from the back, which they were already short of with Thom Evans out. The Gloucester Scottish showed up well with Scott, Rory Lawson and Al Strokosch showing good skills in attack, although Kellock and Gray were all over Lawson (hooker) at the line-out.

And one more thing: does Graeme Morrison ever pass? You’d be as well playing Richie Vernon in the centre, who unveiled the pace that has Glasgow abuzz while the rest of us sat wondering why Beattie was on the bench for a guy with two first names

After Leinster’s failure to topple the ever-improving Dragons at the weekend, the Scottish pro-teams go into the Heineken Cup break first and second in the Magners League table.  So, congratulations to Glasgow and Edinburgh for that excellent bit of away points-grabbing, in particular the two oft-abused/unsung 10s David “Tony” Blair and King of Dans Parko Parks who both played pivotal roles.

What’s more, with only each other to play in the league between now and then, there’s a pretty good chance that one of the Scottish pro-teams will go into the halfway point after Christmas atop the table, with the other in close attendance—along with the likes of Leinster and Ulster.

It’s really great to see the teams doing so well and heading into the second half of the season with one—and possibly both—primed for at least a decent chance of a playoff spot come the sharp end.

This weekend's attention turns to the Heineken Cup. Both Glasgow and Edinburgh need to win all their remaining games to have a chance of getting anywhere, including a possibly shift sideways into the latter stages of the Amlin Challenge Cup (might be a better bet there anyway).

For Glasgow, that’s back-to-back-to-back against Gloucester, then the Dragons, and away to Biarritz. All of which is—in theory—possible based on previous events, but still fairly unlikely for a team that has struggled so often with inconsistency.

Still, the way they toughed it out against Ulster gives me hope. Going out to the south of France with the weather turning a bit and all to play for could make for exciting times, though. Good news for them, too that Ruaridh Jackson came through an hour for Ayr (at full-back) on Saturday.

Edinburgh also faces a team struggling in the GP, Bath (get Robinson on as a pundit!) before taking on Ulster at Ravenhill and Stade at home. With those guys and their love of throwing it about, anything is possible, but I fear “for zem ze vor is ova” and I reckon they will target the festive derbies for a clean sweep instead, maybe giving David Blair some more game time—he did pretty well against the Scarlets on Friday night. Or is that defeatist talk?

On the Internet the walls have ears. Win against Bath and I’ll probably change my mind again.

In terms of TV coverage, according to ERC rugby we get delayed highlights of Glasgow on Friday (this, I think, means “delayed until the round-up show on Sunday night”) and red button for Edinburgh on Sunday afternoon.

Edinburgh team to face Ospreys: Steve Jones, Mark Robertson, Nick De Luca, John Houston, Tim Visser, Phil Godman, Mike Blair (capt), Allan Jacobsen, Andrew Kelly, Geoff Cross, Craig Hamilton, Scott MacLeod, Scott Newlands, Alan MacDonald, Allister Hogg.

Replacements: Ross Ford, Ryan Grant, Steven Turnbull, Roddy Grant, Greig Laidlaw, David Blair, Ben Cairns.

At first glance at this squad, you think "What the hell is Rob Moffat doing?"

Just when momentum was needed and Edinburgh were looking sharp, he’s taken out most of the players in form like Ben Cairns and Roddy Grant, leaving Edinburgh looking slightly under strength for an encounter against a star-powered Ospreys side who are starting to splutter into life.

But then you look at the fixture list for the next month—Stade at the pink palace followed by Ulster who were only narrowly beaten last time out. After that they’ve got Munster, so it doesn’t really get “easier” until the visit of the Dragons in November, and you write them off at your peril.

Besides, Edinburgh still have Blair and Godman at half-back, and you suspect Blair in particular will be keen to match up against the man who dominated the scrum half berth on the Lions tour, Mike Phillips. Houston, Visser, and Robertson are still there and so is Hoggy, all fit and playing well.

The Ospreys on Sunday is arguably the least important fixture of the coming month, and, based on that...well, it looks to not be a bad team.

Hopefully this team selection is not a reflection that the squad is crocked after four weeks, and instead means Edinburgh aim to make a real stab at the Heineken Cup, the stage on which true rugby respectability is earned in Europe.

Let’s face it, second in the Magners last year or not, in the pre-match punditry you won’t hear many people giving them a chance of progressing out of their pool—if they even show the Scottish matches at all.

The other regions (Munster, Leinster, Cardiff) have stepped up and earned some respect for their clubs and for Celtic rugby. Now it is the turn of the Scots to do their bit.