European Rugby Challenge Cup Final - Edinburgh V Gloucester

PREVIEW: Will Sam be the man for Edinburgh?
Sam Hidalgo-Clyne has lit up Scottish rugby this season and spearheaded the Edinburgh Rugby march to their first Challenge Cup final.

Three Heineken Man of the Match awards, and a club European record 28 point haul against Bordeaux-Begles at Murrayfield, have showcased his talent this season and he is set to be a key man in their Edinburgh's push for an historic first professional rugby title at Twickenham Stoop.

As his side's main player maker and goalkicker he is bound to be a target for Gloucester Rugby's players on Friday night and the west country club's director of rugby, David Humphreys, is obviously a fan.

"Sam has become one of the superstars of the game. When you look at how he has performed for Edinburgh in Europe this season he has been outstanding," said Humphreys.

But while the Gloucester back row will be on red alert in the final so, too, will be the Edinburgh side as they try to contain their former team mate Greig Laidlaw. The Scotland skipper has been hugely influential for the Kingsholm team since switching allegiance last summer.

With half-back partner James Hook, and front row recruits John Afoa and Richard Hibbard, he has been able to steer Gloucester into the final without losing. In the final they will attempt to do what Peter Buxton's side of 2006 did and go the full nine games unbeaten.

Gloucester's best form has been saved for Europe this season and the tournament is their only lifeline into next seasons Champions Cup. Win it, and they will go into the play-off for the 20th place, something their meagre ninth place in the Premiership won't offer them.

That will give them extra incentive on the night, although Edinburgh will come into the game with great momentum having demolished Zebre and the Dragons in their last two games. Their added incentive is to become the first Scottish team to win a major trophy - and to beat Glasgow Warriors to the punch!

The big battle is going to be in the front five, where both teams have established sound reputations. Gloucester have the best scrum stats in the Premiership for getting the ball back into play, while the introduction of Aussie-born lock Ben Toolis has added power and agility to the Edinburgh pack. Whoever gets on top at scrum time will have a clear advantage.

Richard Hibbard v Ross Ford at hooker will be a key battle, as will the one between Alasdair Dickinson and John Afoa at prop. The Edinburgh back row will have to deal with Matt Kvesic, the tournament's turn-over king, at the breakdown and if they can stop him from being as effective and influential as usual then it will do them a lot of good.

"We know we are going to play against a highly motivated Edinburgh side and will need to play at our very best to win. We need our international players to stand up and give us international class performances," added Humphreys.

The last time Gloucester reached the Challenge Cup final they needed extra-time to overcome London Irish. That was nine years ago and their last trophy came in 2011 when they won the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

Edinburgh have yet to win a trophy in the professional era, other than the 1872 Cup played for annually between themselves and arch-rivals Glasgow Warriors, and one of the big questions for them to answer at the Twickenham Stoop will be how will they cope with the pressure of the major occasion.

When they met in the European Cup pool stages last season they ended up with an away win each. Who will be the winner on the road this time with a major trophy at stake? It's too tight to call!

Match Facts
•Edinburgh are the first Scottish club to reach a European final while Gloucester - the 2006 champions - will be in appearing in their second decider.
•The competition has been won by an English club on 10 occasions, more than any other nation. French clubs have won the title six times, with Ireland and Wales on one each.
•Gloucester and Edinburgh have never met in the Challenge Cup before, but have played each other four times in Europe's top flight with the Cherry and Whites winning three.
•Gloucester have a 100% record this season and aim to repeat their 2005/06 feat of winning every game on their way to lifting the trophy.
•Edinburgh have the best lineout success (90%) in the competition with Ben Toolis the top lineout winner (44 including steals).
•The two finalists boast the two top scorers in the competition with Greig Laidlaw's 67 points bettered only by Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (91).
•Despite playing the maximum amount of games in this season's Challenge Cup, Gloucester (8) and Edinburgh (11) have conceded fewer tries than any other sides in the competition.
•Matt Kvesic has made the most tackles in the competition completing 97 of his 110 attempts. He has also won the most turnovers (15).
•Of the 370 players who have won the Challenge Cup, 131 are English and eight Scottish. The Scottish winners are: Joe Ansbro (Northampton Saints 2009), Craig Chalmers (Harlequins 2001), Scott Gray (Northampton Saints 2009), Kenny Logan (Wasps 2003), Euan Murray (Northampton Saints 2009), Bryan Redpath (Sale Sharks 2002, 2005), Tom Smith (Northampton Saints 2009), Barry Stewart (Sale Sharks 2005).

IanBru wrote:Solomons' coaching is what got Edinburgh this far. They are what they are because of him. I honestly don't know how you can look at Edinburgh's European journey and be disappointed.

BTW, congrats to Gloucester, very well done guys. Enjoy yourself in that London!

justified sinner wrote:Well done Gloucester deserved to win that. Edinburgh didn't play well, but could have nicked it with a bit more composure. Not sure what scrum the ref was reffing other than that thought he'd a decent game.

Touchy on our side missed an off the ball punch by Moriarty which might not have been picked up on tv either, way off the ball so no blame on the ref.

HongKongCherry wrote:I thought Meakes' red card was a tad harsh given the Edinburgh player was acting as a blocking runner and it looked more like he was just trying to get him out the way.

LondonTiger wrote:

HongKongCherry wrote:I thought Meakes' red card was a tad harsh given the Edinburgh player was acting as a blocking runner and it looked more like he was just trying to get him out the way.

When they first ran a replay, and several after, for assessment it was in slo-mo and looked like a vicious stiff-arm to the head. Watching it looked like a clear-cut red and long ban. Only after he was sent packing was it shown at full speed (and not closeup) where it started to look innocuous and indeed an attempt to get past a blocker.

VinceWLB wrote:Where was the breakdown threat from Edinburgh in the last 5 mins? At times they were like headless chickens to tackle the Glaws player but nobody was there to challenge the ball, Gloucester had an easy time killing off those 5 mins. Sorry to say but Watson probably showed why he isn't international quality yet, got turned over at a crucial time too around the 70 min mark. Edinburgh best player at the breakdown this season (Cochrane) wasn't even on the matchday squad. So while i think this loss is mainly for the players Solomons has to take some responsibility. Ford and Dickinson were out of their feet at the end.

BigGee wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:

HongKongCherry wrote:I thought Meakes' red card was a tad harsh given the Edinburgh player was acting as a blocking runner and it looked more like he was just trying to get him out the way.

When they first ran a replay, and several after, for assessment it was in slo-mo and looked like a vicious stiff-arm to the head. Watching it looked like a clear-cut red and long ban. Only after he was sent packing was it shown at full speed (and not closeup) where it started to look innocuous and indeed an attempt to get past a blocker.

They always look worse in slo-mo and yes he probably was a little unlucky but if you go that high off the ball you take a big risk.

Nematode wrote:I didn't get to see the match

What were the key points about Edinburgh?

Did the pack collapse or were the backs not up to the job (I'm guessing the latter)?

Edinburgh are soft touch for dominant Gloucester
IAIN MORRISON22:23 Saturday 02 May 2015

THERE is a Gary Larson cartoon that has a man in an orchestra holding a huge pair of cymbals and the thought bubble coming from his head reads: “I must not mess up. I must not mess up.” The caption simply says: “Brian messes up”. Edinburgh had their solitary shot at glory in the European Challenge Cup final on Friday night at Twickenham Stoop in West London, and they messed it up right royally.

Coach Alan Solomons had adopted a low-key, softly softly approach in the build-up, which is fair enough, until his side adopted the same approach to the first half-hour of the game, after which they were trailing 10-3 to Gloucester.

It took Edinburgh 34 minutes to mount their first serious and sustained attack inside the Gloucester half, by which time this match should have been all over. Gloucester scored one try in the opening half-hour but it would have been three had Cornell du Preez not made two try-saving tap tackles on Gloucester’s quick men, and it could have been four had Gloucester executed better with their five-metre scrum against a short-handed Edinburgh side who had lock Anton Bresler sitting in the bin.

Edinburgh were bullied into submission, if you like, after the enigmatic Gloucester skipper Billy Twelvetrees enjoyed one of his more physically effective turns in a cherry and red shirt. His try in the first quarter of the match, courtesy of man of the match Jonny May, meant that Edinburgh were playing catch-up for most of the match and they are simply not designed for such an enterprise.

This was a failure not so much of tactics but of imagination and resolve. Edinburgh didn’t look remotely up for the fight although Solomons denied as much after the 19-13 defeat, insisting his side had been mentally prepared for the physical onslaught that Gloucester unleashed. But listening to his explanation of where Edinburgh had come up short, territory, possession, the aerial battle, the kicking contest, the contact area, momentum... there was precious little else left but the mental side of things.

“I thought that when Fordy got the try and we went 19-13 I thought we had a real, real chance to win it,” Solomons said post-match. “They looked to be struggling a little bit. They had a man off and we got deep into their 22.

“That was a major factor because they got a penalty and kicked to the line, won another penalty and kicked to the line and then held on to to the ball for the rest of the game. That was the big opportunity that we had, while agreeing that in the first half there was no question they were well on top with their 13-6 lead at half-time, but I think we had the opportunity there to snatch a win.”

They may have had the opportunity but had Edinburgh actually won this final it would have gone down as grand larceny. Edinburgh showed courage while under the cosh in that first half but they scored their one try only after Gloucester were reduced to 13 men and they failed to add to their total throughout the final 15 minutes when the opposition was still short-handed.

Gloucester’s director of rugby David Humphreys placed the praise for that rearguard action firmly on the shoulders of Twelvetrees and scrum-half Greig Laidlaw, sat beside him at the post-match conference: “They made good decisions, they kept the ball and really didn’t give Edinburgh a chance.”

“I was obviously delighted to win the game,” said the Scot when asked about his emotions after besting his former club. “It is my first season at the club and we have won a good competition. I am very, very happy but I still have some good mates at Edinburgh. I am a humble person so it’s tough to see them at the end. But that’s why I came down to Gloucester, to win things.

“Credit to Edinburgh. Once we went down to 13, 14 men they started to open the ball up and tried to stretch up but we showed great character to get a turnover in our 22 and grab a little bit of field position and that’s what’s given us the game in the end.”

Will Edinburgh’s battered and bruised players be able to pick themselves up off the canvas and come out swinging again next week when they return to the day job with a vital league match against Dragons in Newport?

“Yeah I think they will be disappointed,” replied Solomons, “but the one thing we have prided ourselves on is resilience and we will just have to show something. We have been happy to do that because we have made progress in the Challenge Cup, we have had to play every week, but we have been happy about that because we wanted to make progress.

“Yes, it’s tough but the guys are determined to see out the season in good style.”

Edinburgh are one point behind the Scarlets who sit in that coveted sixth place, the last place that guarantees Champions Cup action next season. If Edinburgh remain in seventh place they will enter the playoff system where they will face...Gloucester.

On Friday’s performance, Edinburgh will have to hope that the Scarlets slip up somewhere between now and the finish line.

TJ wrote:I enjoyed the game.  Surprising number of cards for what was not a dirty game but the red card was outrageous.  The player responsible should be facing a long long ban for that.  One of the nastiest most dangerous pieces of foul play I have seen for a long time

Edinburgh showed a lack of creativity, belief and guts but had a chance to win.  Gloucester closed the game out very well and for that if for no other reason deserved to win.

Just a match too far for Edinburgh

LondonTiger wrote:Irrespective of the illegality of the running line, Meakes was still round the neck and deserved red. Looked a lot worse on slo-mo than it really was. Will probably get a couple of weeks ban after good behaviour and pleading guilty added in.

Moriarty was brainless and should also have seen red. Mind brainless hot headedness does run in his family. If cited and the act, rather than the consequence, is penalise - then he could well miss the rest o fteh season.

TJ wrote:Edinburgh showed a lack of creativity, belief and guts but had a chance to win.  Gloucester closed the game out very well and for that if for no other reason deserved to win.

lostinwales wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:Irrespective of the illegality of the running line, Meakes was still round the neck and deserved red. Looked a lot worse on slo-mo than it really was. Will probably get a couple of weeks ban after good behaviour and pleading guilty added in.

Moriarty was brainless and should also have seen red. Mind brainless hot headedness does run in his family. If cited and the act, rather than the consequence, is penalise - then he could well miss the rest o fteh season.

Didn't he get a red whilst playing for the U20's?  Not a good reputation at all

LondonTiger wrote:

TJ wrote:Edinburgh showed a lack of creativity, belief and guts but had a chance to win.  Gloucester closed the game out very well and for that if for no other reason deserved to win.

No mention of the skill shown by Gloucester in the first half? The only reason you can find for saying they deserved to win was they managed to hold out at the end.

RDW_Scotland wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:

TJ wrote:Edinburgh showed a lack of creativity, belief and guts but had a chance to win.  Gloucester closed the game out very well and for that if for no other reason deserved to win.

No mention of the skill shown by Gloucester in the first half? The only reason you can find for saying they deserved to win was they managed to hold out at the end.

Think you're jumping to conclusions here LT - 'if for no other reason' means that in itself it was enough to make them deserve the win, it doesn't mean that is the only reason they deserve the win!