Treviso V Edinburgh

Treviso V Edinburgh
Stadio Monigo, Saturday 29 March
Kick-off 7pm local time, 6pm UK time – live on BBC ALBA

Edinburgh
15 Carl Bezuidenhout

14 Jack Cuthbert

13 Matt Scott

12 Andries Strauss CAPTAIN

11 Tom Brown

10 Harry Leonard

9 Grayson Hart


1 Alasdair Dickinson

2 Ross Ford

3 Willem Nel

4 Grant Gilchrist – vice captain

5 Izak van der Westhuizen

6 Cornell Du Preez

7 Roddy Grant

8 David Denton


Substitutes:

16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Wicus Blaauw, 18 Ewan McQuillin, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Tomas Leonardi, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Sam Beard, 23 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne

Treviso

TREVISO: 15 Luke McLean; 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Angelo Esposito; 10 James Ambrosini, 9 Tobias Botes; 1 Alberto De Marchi, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Marco Filippucci, 8 Robert Barbieri.
SUBS: 16 Giovanni Maistri, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Valerio Bernabò, 21 Christian Loamanu, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.

Disappointing to see Matt Scott at 13, Cuthbert on the wing and 2 scrum halfs on the bench.

Why does Solomons not want to pick actual wingers?

WTF has Grandpappy been smoking? 2 scrum halves on the bench (I know that Samwise is supposed to be versatile but I've only ever seen him play 9), a 23 year old leading the forwards, Glacial Crack Cuthbert on the wing, Scott in the Wrong Position and an EDP prop against the Italians.

I guess the main solace is that poor Treviso are a basket case at the moment.

2 seasons ago, SH-C was playing for the U20s at fullback - bit of a Dan Parks tackling style, from memory

Lots of interest in this game I see!

  

Could he not have picked that new signing Damien Hoyland (?) or an EDP at least for 23? Nel would have been better for the wing than Cuthbert as well tbh.

And is this a SJ tactic emerging?

        ...  

Play 2 SHs (K&SHC)=(2x Laidlaw) to compensate for his slow service/walking to the ball?

Nematode wrote:Could he not have picked that new signing Damien Hoyland (?) or an EDP at least for 23? Nel would have been better for the wing than Cuthbert as well tbh.

And is this a SJ tactic emerging?

        ...  

Play 2 SHs (K&SHC)=(2x Laidlaw) to compensate for his slow service/walking to the ball?

Wormy, wash your mouth out with soap immediately, young man - Jock McCuthbutt is a "much improved" player of "international, near world class" and to insult him is to insult our friends

It really is worrying if Solomons doesn't trust any other backs to the point that he picks 2 scrum halfs on the bench.

What's happened to Dominguez? He signed a 2 year deal and hasn't been seen since!

Everyone is still on Cuthbert's case and I can't see why. He has not played a bad game for Edinburgh all season, including the Osprey's game when he played on the wing and played very well. He would be up there as a player of the season for me.

This is a serious game, Edinburgh still in with a shout of a tier one European place. It is not the time to experiment with unproven young players. They may get to that later on if the European place disappears, but not yet.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Nematode wrote:Could he not have picked that new signing Damien Hoyland (?) or an EDP at least for 23? Nel would have been better for the wing than Cuthbert as well tbh.

And is this a SJ tactic emerging?

        ...  

Play 2 SHs (K&SHC)=(2x Laidlaw) to compensate for his slow service/walking to the ball?

Wormy, wash your mouth out with soap immediately, young man - Jock McCuthbutt is a "much improved" player of "international, near world class" and to insult him is to insult our friends

    

  

Just done so. I apologise profusely for having such incompetent ignorance towards the legend that is the Cuthbert of the North.

(Although you can't deny the finishing of Nel - our friend over at BBC Alba had to have a little sit down after this

NEL!!! << (click me)

BigGee - the Edinburgh fans are in agreement with you, it just just the great unwashed that like to extract the urine with him.

None of us are saying he's an international class XV or should be starting for Scotland bar injuries, but he has been playing very well this season.

Solomon's has picked a team to win this game and you can't blame him for that. It may not be pretty but hopefully it will be effective. Treviso are a dour forward orientated side, it is not going to be a game with sparkling back play from either side but that plays to Edinburgh's strength now as well. If they stood up to the Ulster pack then they should be able to do even better in this game. This is definitely a game they could/should win.

Nematode wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Nematode wrote:Could he not have picked that new signing Damien Hoyland (?) or an EDP at least for 23? Nel would have been better for the wing than Cuthbert as well tbh.

And is this a SJ tactic emerging?

        ...  

Play 2 SHs (K&SHC)=(2x Laidlaw) to compensate for his slow service/walking to the ball?

Wormy, wash your mouth out with soap immediately, young man - Jock McCuthbutt is a "much improved" player of "international, near world class" and to insult him is to insult our friends

    

  

Just done so. I apologise profusely for having such incompetent ignorance towards the legend that is the Cuthbert of the North.

(Although you can't deny the finishing of Nel - our friend over at BBC Alba had to have a little sit down after this

NEL!!!   << (click me)

Brilliant try, especially considering he had put a 70 minute shift in beforehand!

BigGee wrote:Solomon's has picked a team to win this game and you can't blame him for that. It may not be pretty but hopefully it will be effective. Treviso are a dour forward orientated side, it is not going to be a game with sparkling back play from either side but that plays to Edinburgh's strength now as well. If they stood up to the Ulster pack then they should be able to do even better in this game. This is definitely a game they could/should win.

We need a win at all costs - I really don't care if it is 3-0.

Saying that, it is my rugby team's last game of the season on Saturday and we're having an end of season awards/court session afterwards, so no doubt I'll have had a few beers to make watching more bearable while the game is on in the background!

I like the pack, and there seems to be a real push on Gilchrist for him to take on more responsibility. He called the lineout against Ulster and I suspect he'll fulfil that role between now and the end of the season.

I suspected he may move Cuthbert to the wing. Shame, I think we'd all rather he stick at 15 and we introduced a new young SQ winger with Bezzy on the bench, but Solomons deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Matt Scott being moved to 13 on the other hand....   

TREVISO: 15 Luke McLean; 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Angelo Esposito; 10 James Ambrosini, 9 Tobias Botes; 1 Alberto De Marchi, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Marco Filippucci, 8 Robert Barbieri.
SUBS: 16 Giovanni Maistri, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Valerio Bernabò, 21 Christian Loamanu, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.

Right, I'm a rugby fan and I know a fair bit about the rules/players, however, I've never been able to get my head around what the difference is between 12 and 13. Could someone please fill me in?

Scott's strength and good distribution makes him ideal for playing at 12. Either punch hard, get forward ball and a quick recycle - which happens less when you are at 13 - or offload from the tackle/spot a good option that hopefully 11, 13-15 are giving and use that.

At 13 you want someone perhaps a bit pacier and more used to running a good angle.

That's as much as I know. Anyone else?

Nematode wrote:Right, I'm a rugby fan and I know a fair bit about the rules/players, however, I've never been able to get my head around what the difference is between 12 and 13. Could someone please fill me in?

I've played both 12 and 13. The latter is MUCH more challenging from a defensive point of view. At 12, the space you're watching is more limited, and at club level you'll generally do fine if you have the heft/guts to stop their forwards battering their way down your channel. If you can't, you'll enjoy a long 80 minutes.

In contrast, the space you're looking after at 13 feels VAST. Your decision-making on when to rush-up or drift out is put under serious strain. I love playing 13 when our team was attacking, because you generally get the ball in space and can run at gaps. I hated it defensively, much more concentration required. I was quick enough to rectify most of my mistakes, but it was still pretty harrowing against the better teams.

Agreed - which is why it makes sense for Scott to play inside centre. His weakness, relatively speaking, is his pace. He's sharp on the burst but compared to the best 13s out there (and Campagnaro incidentally is a very good 13), he's on the slow side.

Scott and De Luca are our best centre pairing, with Strauss and Beard as back up in each case respectively (I though Beard was decent at 13 against Ulster).

I think Solomons is making a mistake here personally, and similarly I'd have left Bezzy at 10, Cuthbert at 15 and looked to bring in a young SQ winger for a debut.

I'd say that defencively 13 is the most challenge position on the pitch (god knows why the coaches keep playing me there!).  As has been said 12 is easier in terms of positioning but your 12 is likely to do a more tackles than your 13, and against the big boys. The 13 has to decide whether to drift and rely on the inside defence, or go for the man and hope he doesn't pass wide beforehand or during the tackle and create an overlap.  Usually your 15 is sitting deep to cover the kick (and take the last man technically) so you are always a man down if the ball is spun wide off set piece - the 13 is the key person in organising that defence.

In attack the 12 has a lot less space to work with as he's closer to the inside defence, so you either want him to be a big fella who can crash it up or a ball player who can send the 13 and 15 into the wider channels.

....or in Matt Scott's case, both a big fella and a bloke who can spin the ball.

If he were a Glasgow player, he'd be deemed world class.

Yeah and for all these reasons still unsure why people keep looking at me and saying "13". Yet to play there, but it's what they're shaping me for...I think I look fast and a little weak when actually I'm fast enough but my strength is my surprising (because of how I look) strength. Hmm.

He's no Richie Vernon though...

funnyExiledScot wrote:....or in Matt Scott's case, both a big fella and a bloke who can spin the ball.

If he were a Glasgow player, he'd be deemed world class.

if he were a glasgow player then Bennett would get no game time at all

RDW_Scotland wrote:He's no Richie Vernon though...

True - they are quite different....

It's a fair point Tattie. Bennett is struggling to get a look in as things stand at Glasgow, with epic performers like Richie Vernon and Byron McGuigan standing in the way. Looks like Finn Russell is the shiny new thing these days in any case.

Well the good news is Nigel Owens is the ref, so we'll hopefully at least have a match not decided by the ref!

Incidentally we're best buds now - he tweeted saying he was off to treviso and I asked if he was reffing. He replied saying he was and asked if I was there or watching on tv!

 

RDW_Scotland wrote:He's no Richie Vernon though...

Richie had another pretty good game tonight for the Warriors. He is going to be pretty close to going on the summer tour if he keeps up this sort of form.

Quietly under rated and the butt of a few jokes, much like Cuthbert is at Edinburgh. He may well have the last laugh!

I've been impressed by Vernon too. The joke is really because it was discussed on here ages ago as a bit a a laugh, now it's a reality!

funnyExiledScot wrote:....or in Matt Scott's case, both a big fella and a bloke who can spin the ball.

If he were a Glasgow player, he'd be deemed world class.

Fascinated to hear this one explained. Read it 3 times and still can't decide whether it means that either Glasgow fans are rabidly self-delusional about their players (presumably heroin leading to a lack of objectivity) or Edinburgh fans just know more about the sport.

Oh. Wait. Did you mean that as serial recent playoff participants, Glasgow fans recognise quality when they see it? Totally agree.  

I do like it that Edinburgh threads inevitably end up talking about Glasgow players...

I suspect Mr FES is alluding to the perceived Welsh-like trait that some Glasgow fans seem to have developed in over hyping their players and belittling their rivals...

I could be wrong though!

RDW is spot on. Typical Edinburgh fan....

This is a very physical Treviso's pack, weather looks great.

Can't wait for this one.

Ruddy Weegies. Jealous of their better dressed and finely scented brethren to the east. Who cares about league position when you have good hair!

 

funnyExiledScot wrote:RDW is spot on. Typical Edinburgh fan....

Fairy nuff. I guess Glasgow fans will have to look at their league position and the 1872 Cup which Bomrys drinks his coffee from every morning and wonder where it all went wrong. Maybe I'll catch a tram over there one day and try to capture just a gram of that SpotOnNess by osmosis.

RDW_Scotland wrote: 

Scott Johnson is that you??

Solid start by edinburgh, Nigel Owens asking ross ford how long he has been playing has got to be the highlight though.

And matt Scott has had a great first half, he gets into a lot more space and uses his offloading skills more at 13. RDW and FES will no doubt disagree...

Solid first half from Edinburgh but should have scored 2 tries - suspect it's a confidence thing and will hopefully come with time (notwithstanding that Du Preez was so confident that he was going to score he ignored the 2 man overlap!)

A much better game than I feared. Treviso have come to play some rugby as well attacking when they can and some interesting tactics targeting the back 3 with long kicks and closing down the half backs. Edinburgh playing well even if they did bollox a try scoring chance

That is not even a penalty

Strauss looking good in defence but we have fairly butchered a few chances with ball in hand. Not conceding in the last ten min or so could prove to be vital.

Horribly soft try to concede there.
Letting their hooker waltz over from 20m out

And another sort try conceded. All coming from failure to catch and letting the ball bound several times in our 22.

Ah crap. Just tuned in and saw the score.

Just saw the score...  

Same, was out for a meal, came back just in time to see Treviso's 2 tries...