Scottish PRO12 Club developments

A lot has been going on recently regarding new signings and position switches, some of which are quite important and might not have been covered in the mainstream media. Here are some points I think might be important.

1) Edinburgh sign TONY FENNER - I've watched some of his highlights and he is capable of hitting some 60m+ penalties so will be a very useful addition to the squad (and can play FB). With Fenner and Cuthbert able to take medium-long range penalties, complementing the short range accuracy of Laidlaw, I think Edinburgh has a real advantage over Glasgow entering the 1872 Derby here. Jackson's kicking is a bit mediocre and Weir has lost his touch.

2) GREIG TONKS a fresh beginning in the long run struggle to find a Edinburgh/Scotland 10? He is left footed if memory serves me correctly which is a positive with Scott right outside him. He's got a big boot and does run the ball well so this could be a shrewd move. Given the 6N is rapidly approaching and Weir and Jackson are in an abyss of form, could Tonks squeeze his way back into the squad?

3) DAVID DENTON signs a 2 year contract extension. Possibly the biggest signing Edinburgh could make. Although is it for the best? Edinburgh already have Du Preez - for Scotland Denton getting some more physicality with Leicester in the Aviva might have been quite useful. But a real bonus for Edinburgh.

4) RICHIE VERNON moving to centre. Noticed this on ESPN Scrum today. To be honest I'm a little nervy about this. I don't really think he has the agility for the centre. He's 6'5 which would be a real force in the centre for ball carrying, yet he's only 102kg, not as big as Lamont and just 2kg more than Dunbar and Scott. The most interesting piece is that it was recommended by Townsend and Scott Johnson. This is interesting saying we do have options at centre. Is it just last chance saloon for him? This is akin to Mcinally moving to hooker, so successful Edinburgh want to keep him a surprise this season. I can't see him near the Scotland team as a centre soon and really I think it's unlikely to work so late in his career. Ford to scrum half?

5) Has Alex Grove sealed his Scotland fate by re-signing with Worcester? They are staring down the relegation barrel and Grove is already out of favour with selectors.  

Discussion

- What do people think about only around 13 of Edinburgh's 23 being SQ?
- Will Lee Millar/Tom Heathcote join Edinburgh/Glasgow anytime soon? RWC 2015 is just around the corner and we are worryingly low on quality in the 10 jersey. Millar looked really promising for Gala and surely Heathcote (and Millar) need regular game time in a professional outfit if they are to play in a world cup. Heathcote can no longer warm the bench for Ford if he wants to play international rugby, Millar too cannot linger at London Scottish.
- Should Edinburgh compete in their two remaining Heineken cup matches? Do you try and get out of your pool and face a Saracens or Toulon, only to get beaten, or do you focus on resting players in the hope of a top 6 spot in the Rabo?
- And has anyone else noticed how Guscott's BBC column has been missing any mention of Scottish rugby for weeks?

Mods maybe this needs to be moved to the club rugby section?

Awisepenguin, welcome. By the looks of your message you might be an Edinburgh supporter? We probably need a few more of them on here to keep us Glasgaes in touch!

The Alex Grove one is the most pressing question of the lot for me. The fact that Edinburgh are so short of centres that Scott Johnson is suggesting Vernon try move there (implying its for the Scottish set up) and that Grove never really did a thing bad for us, it's beginning to imply that, for some reason, Grove has distanced himself from the Scottish set up. Why re-sign with Worcester when they are 95% likely to get relegated? Perhaps he has ties there that he wants to stay with and Scotland are telling him he needs to come up north if he wants to be considered, and he is saying no? Does he have family in the Worcs area? Is his re-sign unconditional or based on Worcester not getting relegated?

As for the others, 13 of Edinburgh's 23 being SQ is ok for now. We need to give Solomons time and he effectively inherited the squad. We'll see what he does in the summer but at the moment Edinburgh and Scottish rugby need results, however that comes. Any more NSQ in the 23, though, and it's really pushing it - it will feed into Scottish rugby.

I really hope that Heathcote might join Edinburgh at the end of this season as his contract with Bath is up, he's frankly much better than Leonard and will get used more.

Tonks - let's see what he does today and go from there. Nothing wrong with throwing him in at the 6N though I doubt it will happen unless he is covering for 10 as a utility back, starting at FB or covering 10 & 15 from the bench. Funny if Scotland had a backline like this though, that could interchange after every phase:

9 - Laidlaw (SH/FH)
10 - Jackson (FH/Centre)
11 - Evans (Wing/Centre)
12 - Lamont (Centre/Wing/FB)
13 - Hogg (Centre/Wing/FB)
14 - Maitland (Wing/FB)
15 - Tonks (FB/FH)