Edinburgh vs. Ulster (22 March)

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Does anyone know if this game is going to be televised?

Ta

I certaintly don't think we will go quetly I just think injuries have ripped the guts out of our team and it is now very low on confidence and we do not have the time to turn it around

As for the Pro 12 we could be only 4 points clear of 5th place come this time next Monday - even that isn't safe.

Get your Glasgow hats on and cheer for them next week - if things don't improve we may just need it

Better news on Henderson but Henry starting to be a worry.

All sorts of nonsense I was reading on the Uafc site geoff. From Henderson, Wilson and Marshall coming back to Afoa not featuring this week. Would drive a man nuts!

Do you have any specific news on Henry or just rumour (or lack thereof if you catch my meaning)

The Henry problem is that no one is saying anything most other players you here rumours but I cant find out anything about him. Initially he was supposed to be back for the Edinburgh game - if he is not in the squad for Leinster I woudl say he may well miss Saracens and even if he doesn't he will be playing on a wing and a prayer.
Along with Afoa one of the two players we simply must have.

The Henderson good news is no bones broken and he is healing fast.
Pienaer should be fine.
Marshall is a concussion thing - depends how long the doc thinks he should stay off

Wilson is someone I have low expectations off - not been right since he joined.
To be honest if he doesn't pick up next year he will not be retained. On big money. Would explain why of all our NIQ Williams is up there with Pienaer as the one we want to retain

I don't know who I prefer were it between Wilson and Diack though. Williams is nailed on if fit. Hendo too. Yeah, there seems to be a lot of conflicting reports about. I think we can do a job with a Hendo, Diack/Wilson, Williams backrow but it will require a gargantuan effort.

Our back line has worried me but you can see a massive difference with Payne in situ. He is key IMO.

Daick is a good few years younger, has a better fitness record and is on half the money.
Wilson is not justifying his salary - outside the NIQ and the Central Contract boys he is probably the highest paid player at the club

What a pleasing result. It seems Bradley being given his marching orders has changed Edinburgh with immediate effect.

This sort of turnaround always bothers me though. If Edinburgh could play like that all the time, why haven't they done so?

It's a real kick in the balls for all the fans who have endured some ammout of rubbish this season.

The good news for Edinburgh fans is that all the remaining games are winnable, meaning that despite being utterly awful this season, a midtable finish isn't actually beyond us.

It goes without saying that we have to beat Zebre away, preferrably with a bonus point, for 7th/8th to be achievable, but do that, and the games at home against Connacht and the Dragons could really propel us into some sort of respectable league position. Do that, and I'll be ready to consider Hodge and Scott and genuine contenders for the job. Still an awful long way to go. The performance against Ulster was ok, even good in patches, but the result was certainly the highlight rather than the performance. Hopefully by adding Laidlaw, Scott and Visser to the backs, possibly NDL or Cairns as well, we'll have enough quality to finish strongly.

When does de Brainfart's suspension end? I would really, really like to see Scott and Cairns given a decent run because that's potentially an excellent partnership.

Other than that, I am just hoping that Rennie gets through another 80 without a scratch. Are Talei and Baseila (sp) definitely off at the end of this season?

The Bradley effect is unmissable.

Edinburgh with their squad should never have been as low in the table as they were.
Edinburgh should be a better team next year, but so should thier rivals Cardiff, Connacht and Terviso.

I think that next year there won't be a top 6 bottom 6 split in the table, and I think Edinburgh fans will be looking forward to a better year.

Last I head of De Luca is that they were appealing - no word on the outcome yet. Agreed on Cairns though, but comments a few weeks ago from Bradley suggested that he might not get a contract renewal, which I think would be crazy.

A team for the rest of the season of

1 Yapp
2 Ford
3 Cross
4 Gilchrist
5 Cox
6 Denton / McInally
7 Rennie
8 Talei
9 Laidlaw
10 Francis / Leonard
11 Visser
12 Scott
13 Cairns
14 Fife
15 Tonks

Subs Chunk, Lawrie, Nel, PJP/VDV, Basalaia/McInally, Rees, Leonard/Francis, Brown

Should be enough to give us a good chance of winning our remaining games.

Should...

Agree with most of that. It would be ludicrous to stand by Cairns throughout his injury period but then ditch him once he's fit. He showed some nice touches on his comeback and I'd far rather see Cairns and Fife at 13 and 14 than Fife and Jones.

I quite liked the way the scrum and subs worked against Ulster, so I'd stick with Nel and Chunk to start, and Cross and Yapp as the subs. I also think Denton goes onto the bench when he returns, and not at 6. McInally's performance against Ulster was better than anything Denton has done this season, and I really do think Denton plays better at 8 than at 6. Accordingly I'd have Denton as an impact sub, with Basilia the squad cover at 6 should McInally get injured.

Given that Rees is leaving at the end of the season, I'd also use Kennedy on the bench rather than Rees.

Other than that I agree, I'd certainly bring back Laidlaw, Scott and Visser for the away trip to Zebre. We need the forwards to repeat the job against Ulster, and the backs to step up a notch. In Venditti they have a cracking and form winger, so Visser should start in order to give them something to think about in the wide channels.

We must win on Friday. A loss and the Scott and Hodge regime will only last until the end of the season. Zebre will be targeting this as winnable, so we need to close the door on them early.

Good points FES - and agreed on Kennedy over Rees.

Not sure about the front row though, what's better - start off well and get a good platform or start off averagely and rely on your subs to turn the screw? Yapp and Cross made a noticable difference and I think Chunk really is past his best. Saying that I'd be happy with either Cross or Nel.

I reckon there may be some orders from on high to give Denton gametime though so suspect he will be brought in when he returns to fitness - not sure when that will be.

What I liked about Chunk on Friday was how awkward he made it for Afoa in the scrum, and Afoa is a recognised top class tighthead. Chunk's centre of gravity is about an inch off the ground, and it makes him an awkward customer, preventing the opposition tighthead from settling. I don't think he brings much in the way of impact off the bench these days, but is handy to have for the first few scrums.

Not much to separate between Nel and Cross, but Cross always strikes me as a good impact sub, purely for his workrate in the closing stages.

What I don't want to see is the week in week out rotation. Another reason why I'd stick with the status quo.

I'm not against gametime for Denton, just against him coming straight back in after a MOTM performance from McInally (run close by Talei). The backrow was really good against Ulster, and I think it would seriously undermine Scott and Hodge were they to simply parachute the underperforming and returning from injury Denton purely because Scott Johnson wants to see how he gets on. Edinburgh have games to win here. 7th or 8th is possible, and would represent a significant achievement for Scott and Hodge.