Edinburgh - targets for next season?

Well what a Jekyll and Hyde season it has been for Edinburgh - History making in the Heineken Cup by reaching the Semi Finals, and also bad History making in the Rabbo by recording one of the worst league places ever by a Scottish team! I for one have thoroughly enjoyed our season. The stunning win over Racing at home (27 points down with 20 mins to go), the equally stunning win away to Racing, the do-or-die win over London Irish (had to get a bonus point win) then of course the even more stunning win over Toulouse in front of an incredible 38000 strong crowd (on my 25th birthday too!).

Then of course was the history making Semi final (something that will live long in my memory), where we definitely didn't look out of place at that level. Ulster deserved the win, but if we'd cut down some of our many mistakes and had a bit of luck the game could have ended differently.

So on to next year!

The SRU have invested heavily in the squad with re-signings of key players (Visser, Denton, Scott, Jones, Brown, Gilchrist) and 9 new players brought in (and more to come I think).

Our first team won't have changed too much, but the key thing is that we will have significantly stronger strength in depth this year, hopefully allowing us to have a better league challenge.

So for me I think we definitely need to set a minimum target of HK quarter finals, and Rabbo top 4. For that level of investment both of those are achievable, one of those is essential and none of them would be a very poor season indeed.

So by my reckoning here is the squad for next year (I've put my first team in bold):

1 - Chunk, Yapp, Hislop
2 - Ford, Lawrie, Walker
3 - WP Nel, Cross, Niven
4 - Gilchrist, Perry-John Parker, Turnbell
5 - Van Der Westhuizen, Cox, Mcalpine
6 - Denton, Mcinally
7 - Rennie, Grant
8- Talei, Dimitri Basilaia
9 - Richie Rees, Leck, Black
10 - Laidlaw, Leonard, Hunter
11 - Visser, Penn
12 - Scott, Ben Atiga
13 - De Luca, Cairns
14 - Jones, Fyfe, Farndale
15 - Brown, Tonks

And that's not including several squad players like Houston and James King.

So by my reckoning that's a damn good 1st team, and a pretty decent 2nd team too. Areas of concern are 3rd choice props and hooker, and left wing is a bit short too. Areas of strength are definitely the back row and the centres, with 2nd row looking promising now too (who would have thought it??).

What are peoples thoughts for next year then? Will be interested to hear from non-Edinburgh fans too.

Min target is just as you indicate, RDW, Heino quarter final and playoffs in Rabo - should be exactly the same for Glasgow

As you say RDW Scotland your target has to be playoffs and HC quarter final.

I think the HC will be tougher for Edinburgh next season though.

One thing I forgot to mention - get the bloody 1872 cup back from Glasgow!!!!

I know it means hee haw but it's time we got it back in the East.

RDW_Scotland wrote:One thing I forgot to mention - get the bloody 1872 cup back from Glasgow!!!!

I know it means hee haw but it's time we got it back in the East.

Not a chance

RDW_Scotland wrote:One thing I forgot to mention - get the bloody 1872 cup back from Glasgow!!!!

I know it means hee haw but it's time we got it back in the East.

With Toonie at the helm, Warriors will probably deliver it by hand with some sweeties and a stripper.

Been watching the freestate cheetas highlights online recently - looks like we've got a prolific try scorer in WP Nel - scored 3 in the last 2 games!

Really excited about the two Saffers - shame Vdw isn't coming until October. I think Nel is coming in August...

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:One thing I forgot to mention - get the bloody 1872 cup back from Glasgow!!!!

I know it means hee haw but it's time we got it back in the East.

With Toonie at the helm, Warriors will probably deliver it by hand with some sweeties and a stripper.

Agreed on the targets, and agree on the squad. It's a much much stronger squad than last season with a couple of handy additions to the 1st team (two Saffas).

Hoping to see Farndale get some first team action as well.

Really looking forward to getting to Murrayfield as much as possible this season. Hopefully the second string will put up more of a fight this season!

Aye last season Edinburgh in the Rabo were just going through the motions. Whilst I'm greatful that we did so well in the HC I'm not a fan of sending out shoe string teams to get mullered in the Pro12. We'll struggle to be taken seriously untill we can perform well in both championships.

Good news is our 2nd string team looks better than it did last year so I would be expecting good stuff from Edinburgh.

Lets be fair Leinster, Munster, Ulster, Ospreys, Scarlets, Blues, Edinburgh and Glasgow are all targeting the playoff, half of them will be dissapointed.

(could maybe remove Blues from that list as they will maybe be concentrating on rebuilding this year)

how many teams have realistic aims of playoff place in top 14 or Jeff?

Thats one advantage the Pro 12 has, if a nations teams are underperforming, the union will concentrate on them to improve them, meaning hopefully it never leads to the same 4 teams appearing in the playoffs year after year. Italy with Teviso will be targeting the playoffs as well soon enough. Scotland are really pushing the 2 pro teams forward now as well, Irish teams are always competative and Connacht are getting stronger, the Welsh regions have maybe slipped back a little, but Ospreys are always strong, Scarlets are improved and have some talent, Blues are slipping back and rebuilding and Dragons haven't improved.

Think the strong contenders are Leinster, Osreys, Ulster, Munster
other contenders are Glasgow, Scarlets, Edinburgh, Blues.

in that order.

Kingshu to respond to your question -

how many teams have realistic aims of playoff place in top 14 or Jeff?

AP

Strong contenders - Quins,Leicester,Saracens,Saints

Others who will be eyeing it up - Bath,Exeter,Gloucester,London Irish,Sale

Top 14

Strong contenders - Toulouse,Clermont,Toulon

Others - Castres,Racing Metro,Montpellier,Biarritz,Stade Francais

reaslistically LI, Exeter and Sale the target in H-cup spot, playoff would be seen as a bonus

Top 14 maybe unfair as top 6 make playoffs.

Kingshu wrote:reaslistically LI, Exeter and Sale the target in H-cup spot, playoff would be seen as a bonus

Top 14 maybe unfair as top 6 make playoffs.

If 11th place Edinburgh can target a Pro12 playoff spot I think virtually every other club can target a playoff spot!

Certainly Sale and Exeter will be targeting playoffs having got HC qualification in the bag last season. Exeter came 5th and were close to knocking Saints out of contention.

Sale have also splashed some cash this off season and will want to see some return on that investment. Bath are reportedly lining up a couple of big signings, LI have re-inforced well and crucially in the backroom team with their coaching hero Brian Smith returning, Exeter have only got stronger with better depth added to the squad, Gloucester looked to be challenging the playoffs before imploding last season and I have a feeling the damn Pests will be real dark horses this year.

Add that to the top 4 teams (all of whom have held on to their best players bar Saints and Ashton) and it should be a great AP season. The only teams I'm confident of beating home and away are LW and Worcester, all the others will be really tough away though I expect fortress Welford to regather some of it's auora.

To be honest I shouldn't have said "how many teams have realistic aims of playoff place in top 14 or Jeff?" as I don't want to turn this into a Rabo V Prem thread, we have enough of those.

But what about the unions owning (or working closley with) the teams so that if a team is beginging to struggle the Union can focus resources on it, is this long term going to create a better league, than having team wishing for benefactors to help. or struggle round the bottom for years. with having 4 different Unions involved this means that they want to push there teams to the top, that has to improve the competition as a whole.

formerly known as Sam wrote:and I have a feeling the damn Pests will be real dark horses this year.

I think Wasps will be quite inconsistent next season, but I agree that their 1st XV, when fit, will cause even the very best some problems. I can't see them sustaining a challenge, but they will certainly be a banana skin.

Back to Edinburgh, if they can replicate their HC form and success this season, then that will be fantastic. Where I really want to see improvement is consistency. I don't want to be showing up on Friday evening, the week before an HC weekend, and watch Edinburgh get stuffed and look disinterested.

WP Nel is coming over mid-late July which is good, as he will be fully involved in most of pre-season. Shame we won't have Vdw until October but we should be able to cope in the 2nd row until then.

Given that Gilchrist has had a summer of conditioning, hopefully he and Cox can start the season with a bang, allowing for VDW to give us some impact later on.

Good news about Nel. Very hopeful about him.

You see his tries at the weekend? The first one he basically flopped over from 1m out but the 2nd was a good barreling run to power over. Check it out on the Super 15 website

He is built like Chunk's bigger brother but is fairly athletic for his frame!

Been thinking about our 2nd team next season (when Internatiolists are away) with what it was last season, and on paper it doesn't look to be significantly better:

New season Last season
1 - Yapp Traynor
2 - Lawrie Kelly
3 - WP Nel Gilding
4 - Van Der Westhuizen Gilchrist
5 - Cox Cox
6 - Dimitri Basilaia Mcinally
7 - Grant Grant
8- Talei Talei
9 - Richie Rees Leck
10 - Leonard Godman
11 - Penn Visser
12 - Ben Atiga King
13 - Cairns JT
14 - Fife Fife
15 - Tonks Brown

In fact you could argue that the backs lose Tim Visser and have some players that are as of yet unkown (Penn, Atiga, Tonks).

However I am genuinely quite content that our 2nd team this year will do a lot better. Our front row is significantly better than what it was (which was one of the main factors in us being crap last year) and I think Atiga and Cairnsy can make a really good centre combination.

Also, there's no chance Bradely is going to let the team put in the same sub-standard performances that they did last year when the big boys were away, so he'll definitely have them fired up for it.

Also, no (good)Godman!

I disagree - that looks a considerably better 2nd string that the team last year. The front five is hugely strengthen, crucially, and for me the difference between a Leonard, Atiga , Cairns midfield and a Godman, King, JT midfield is huge. Yes, Visser won't be there, but young Farndale looks an exciting prospect, and by all accounts Penn can really shift and beat a man. Don't know much about Tonks, but I suspect Tom Brown may be released from Scotland duty every now and then, with Stuart Hogg and Rory Lamont about.

As I said, on paper it doesn't perhaps look significantly different but I am a lot more content than with last years team!

I can only see Brown and Gilchrist being on the fringes of the Scotland squad so we should have them too, with perhaps the exception of the Tonga game where he might try out one or two new players.
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Still majorly concerned about hooker and tightead - we're only 2 injuries/unnavailabilities away from having a random under 20s player!

Not quite a random under 20, we've just resigned Steven Lawrie and Alun Walker, admittedly Walker is only 21, but looked OK last year. Scrumming creaked, but most of the time he had no support.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18693765

Think that's OK back up an International first choice, A cap and promising youngster, then we're down to random under 20s.

It's potentially a massive year for Steven Lawrie. Having let Andrew Kelly go, Edinburgh obviously feel that Lawrie is ready for 1st team rugby. Ross Ford can't play every minute of every game. I hope he's up to it. I've not seen much of him to judge, but I hope he has the requisite power.

never really been overly inspired by him - he was let go by Edinburgh in the past and, although he's not done much wrong, he's never looked more than a squad player.

beshocked wrote:Kingshu to respond to your question -

how many teams have realistic aims of playoff place in top 14 or Jeff?

AP

Strong contenders - Quins,Leicester,Saracens,Saints

Others who will be eyeing it up - Bath,Exeter,Gloucester,London Irish,Sale

You had me at Bath & Exeter then totally lost me.... There is no way (given the signings they have made so far) Gloucester or London Irish will finish anywhere near the top 4. To be honest Bath's squad hasnt improved much in the off season either but granted they at least will have a platform to play off so might challenge. So by my reckoning your probably looking at Bath, Exeter & Sale at a push as outsiders at best.

beshocked wrote: Top 14

Strong contenders - Toulouse,Clermont,Toulon

Others - Castres,Racing Metro,Montpellier,Biarritz,Stade Francais

Tolouse, Clermont, Toloun & Biarritz have the biggest budgets. Castres & Biarritz will probably be happy to finish top half of the table and avoid releagtion let alone finish top 4 (given Biarrritz almost got relegated last season). Stade just dont have the financial clout to really compete & Montpellier get hampered with French call ups.

If we are basing it on budgets the Welsh regions shouldnt get anywhere near the top 4. Scottish clubs have been given the biggest playing budget in its history.

I've no doubt Edinburgh will be quality and there does seem to be some strength.

That said there is still a lot of quality in the Welsh Regions as well. Going to be a interesting season.

Anyone think Treviso can improve on last term? Loamanu could be an inspired signing on the wing for them from Toulon.

What have the Welsh budgets been cut to? Considering ours used to be much less, and we've gone up a bit and the Welsh gone down a bit, surely they are somewhere around the same now?

It was reported that the SRU are now funding Glasgow and Edinburgh to around 4.2 mill (the old aviva cap).

Welsh Teams now have a cap in place at 3.5million

Welshmushroom wrote:It was reported that the SRU are now funding Glasgow and Edinburgh to around 4.2 mill (the old aviva cap).

Welsh Teams now have a cap in place at 3.5million

Mushroom, that's a self-imposed cap by the Welsh regions themselves tho?