Challenge Cup Pool 5: Edinburgh Rugby v Grenoble, 13 November

by **George Carlin** Tue 03 Nov 2015, 7:57 am

Edinburgh v FC Grenoble
Friday 13 November 2015
KO 19:30
BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Live on [tbc]

Referee Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Touch Judge 1 Sean Brickell (Wales)
Touch Judge 2 Jon Hardy (Wales)
Fourth Official Bob Nevins (Scotland)
Citing Commissioner Richard McGhee (Scotland)

A. Head to Head

#These teams are meeting for the first time.

B. Recent Domestic Form

Edinburgh Rugby
Saturday 7 November
Edinburgh Rugby
[*]-
[*]Munster Rugby

Saturday 31 October
Connacht Rugby 14 - 9 Edinburgh Rugby

Saturday 24 October
Zebre Rugby 19 - 11 Edinburgh Rugby

Friday 16 October
Edinburgh Rugby 16 - 10 Ulster Rugby

FC Grenoble
Saturday 7 November
Toulouse
[*]-
[*]Grenoble

Saturday 24 October
Castres 23 - 31 Grenoble

Friday 16 October
Grenoble 19 - 30 Montpellier

Saturday 12 October
Racing 92 23 - Grenoble 14

C. Teams

Edinburgh Rugby
Challenge Cup Pool 5: Edinburgh Rugby v Grenoble, 13 November Edinbu10

Challenge Cup Pool 5: Edinburgh Rugby v Grenoble, 13 November Edinbu10

15 Dougie Fife

14 Damien Hoyland

13 Will Helu

12 Matt Scott

11 Tom Brown

10 Greig Tonks

9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne

1 Alasdair Dickinson

2 Ross Ford

3 WP Nel

4 Anton Bresler

5 Alex Toolis

6 Mike Coman (captain)

7 John Hardie (uncapped)

8 Cornell Du Preez

Substitutes

16 Neil Cochrane

17 Rory Sutherland

18 John Andress

19 Nasi Manu

20 Hamish Watson

21 Sean Kennedy

22 Blair Kinghorn

23 Chris Dean

FC Grenoble
Challenge Cup Pool 5: Edinburgh Rugby v Grenoble, 13 November Andre_10

Challenge Cup Pool 5: Edinburgh Rugby v Grenoble, 13 November Andre_10

Fabien Barcella, Loick Jammes, Kevin Goze - James Percival, Mathias Marie - Mahamadou Diaby, Fabien Alexandre, Dylan Hayes - James Hart, Gilles Bosch - Daniel Kilioni, Jackson Willison, Chris Farrell, Tino Nemani - Clement Gelin

Substitutes: Arnaud Héguy, Sona Taumalolo, Walter Desmaison, Ben Hand, Steven Setephano, Christophe Loustalot, Xavier Mignot, Lucas Dupont

by **RDW** Mon 09 Nov 2015, 1:57 pm

So I wonder what lessons Solomons has learned from last season, where he tried to get a Top 6 place and Challenge Cup win at the same time but failed to do both.

Given that we've just lost 3 league games in a row we are in a similar position to last year going into the first round of Euro games.

I think he should go for our strongest team for this leg at home - we desperately need a win before we completely lose all momentum. Rotate the squad for Agen away being reasonably comfortable losing that game if it means we're raring to go for Dragons in the league the week after.

by jimbopip Mon 09 Nov 2015, 4:44 pm

Good luck in the Diddy Cup Luvvies. Laugh

by **RDW** Mon 09 Nov 2015, 4:52 pm

It’s a shame the Champions Cup group losers don’t parachute into the Challenge Cup anymore – there could have been a lot more Edinburgh-Glasgow games in recent years!

Oh well, at least the Glasgow players will be will get a rest when the knock out rounds are on. Whistle

by **RDW** Tue 10 Nov 2015, 9:29 am

Good to see this match has generated a lot of interest... Tumbleweed

by **George Carlin** Tue 10 Nov 2015, 10:20 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:Good to see this match has generated a lot of interest...

That's why I created all of these first European round match threads. Those that generate eff all interest, I just won't do again! Very Happy

by MacKnocked-on Tue 10 Nov 2015, 10:31 am

George Carlin wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:Good to see this match has generated a lot of interest...
That's why I created all of these first European round match threads. Those that generate eff all interest, I just won't do again!

Right, I'll start the discussion then, if fit Te Rure at 10 for this match, we need a running stand off with natural attacking intent, Tonks isn't that sort of player. In the absence of anyone else then give Te Rure a chance, Edinburgh's wingers are looking dangerous when they occasionally get the ball so lets go for an all out running broken field approach. If it doesn't work so be it but the recent efforts of Tonks at 10 show he isn't what we need there.

by funnyExiledScot Tue 10 Nov 2015, 10:48 am

If Burleigh isn't fit then I'd still go with Tonks at 10. I like seeing Kinghorn getting rugby and if we must have Te Rure involved, best have him on the bench (with superglue/nails applied as needed).

by EWT Spoons Tue 10 Nov 2015, 11:01 am

Would it be too early to move Kinghorn to 10? I get he's playing at FB to get experience etc, but really we have no one else of any quality at flyhalf.

by MacKnocked-on Tue 10 Nov 2015, 12:20 pm

Do Edinburgh and Glasgow have to register squads for the Euro competitions or can they pick from their normal wider squads?

by **RDW** Tue 10 Nov 2015, 12:37 pm

MacKnocked-on wrote:Do Edinburgh and Glasgow have to register squads for the Euro competitions or can they pick from their normal wider squads?

I'd assume like everyone else they need to register a squad?

by **George Carlin** Tue 10 Nov 2015, 1:21 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:
MacKnocked-on wrote:Do Edinburgh and Glasgow have to register squads for the Euro competitions or can they pick from their normal wider squads?

I'd assume like everyone else they need to register a squad?

I hope for Edinburgh's sake that they found some way to register John Hardie.

by funnyExiledScot Tue 10 Nov 2015, 1:23 pm

George Carlin wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:
MacKnocked-on wrote:Do Edinburgh and Glasgow have to register squads for the Euro competitions or can they pick from their normal wider squads?

I'd assume like everyone else they need to register a squad?
I hope for Edinburgh's sake that they found some way to register John Hardie.

Yes. We're going to change his name to Andries Strauss by Deed Poll.

by MacKnocked-on Tue 10 Nov 2015, 1:35 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:
MacKnocked-on wrote:Do Edinburgh and Glasgow have to register squads for the Euro competitions or can they pick from their normal wider squads?

I'd assume like everyone else they need to register a squad?

Yes I meant every club playing in these competitions, and if so when was the deadline to do so.

by **George Carlin** Wed 11 Nov 2015, 6:06 am

Official preview:

PREVIEW: Hidalgo-Clyne expecting special treatment

Edinburgh Rugby star Sam Hidalgo-Clyne reckons last season's second-placed Challenge Cup finish makes them a prize scalp for their Pool Five rivals.

The Twickenham Stoop silver-medalists start their mission to go one-step further against Grenoble on Friday night. Alan Solomons will have his internationals to call on, in a pool stage campaign that will see his side will also face London Irish and Agen on their route to the quarter-finals. But Hidalgo-Clyne insists his side will focus solely on what lies ahead against the Top14 side.

He said: "You go that far and you make a name for yourselves so you're going to be targeted. We've just got to make sure that we don't get ahead of ourselves. We lost this week so we need to go back to the drawing board, work out the opportunities we missed and try and build on it. We always enjoy playing in Europe."

Grenoble only managed a pair of wins against Femi-CZ Rugby Rovigo last season, but back Fabien Gengenbacher sees the Challenge Cup as a route into the promised land of the Champions Cup.

He said: "The level of competition in the Top14 is very high and it is difficult to finish in the top six. This competition may help us reach the Champions Cup. There is also this goal of being qualified for the Champions Cup next year. But to get out of the pool would already be a great performance.

"Edinburgh always play hard this competition as we saw last season and have many international players. We played London Irish last year in two very different matches last season, one where one did not play well and the second away from home that we could have won. And then there is Agen, who will discover this competition and may wish to go far too."

Not convinced it's the best time to be publicly proclaiming Edinburgh's awesomeness to be honest, but oh for youthful enthusiasm....

by funnyExiledScot Wed 11 Nov 2015, 8:41 am

George Carlin wrote:Official preview:
PREVIEW: Hidalgo-Clyne expecting special treatment

Edinburgh Rugby star Sam Hidalgo-Clyne reckons last season's second-placed Challenge Cup finish makes them a prize scalp for their Pool Five rivals.

The Twickenham Stoop silver-medalists start their mission to go one-step further against Grenoble on Friday night. Alan Solomons will have his internationals to call on, in a pool stage campaign that will see his side will also face London Irish and Agen on their route to the quarter-finals. But Hidalgo-Clyne insists his side will focus solely on what lies ahead against the Top14 side.

He said: "You go that far and you make a name for yourselves so you're going to be targeted. We've just got to make sure that we don't get ahead of ourselves. We lost this week so we need to go back to the drawing board, work out the opportunities we missed and try and build on it. We always enjoy playing in Europe."

Grenoble only managed a pair of wins against Femi-CZ Rugby Rovigo last season, but back Fabien Gengenbacher sees the Challenge Cup as a route into the promised land of the Champions Cup.

He said: "The level of competition in the Top14 is very high and it is difficult to finish in the top six. This competition may help us reach the Champions Cup. There is also this goal of being qualified for the Champions Cup next year. But to get out of the pool would already be a great performance.

"Edinburgh always play hard this competition as we saw last season and have many international players. We played London Irish last year in two very different matches last season, one where one did not play well and the second away from home that we could have won. And then there is Agen, who will discover this competition and may wish to go far too."
Not convinced it's the best time to be publicly proclaiming Edinburgh's awesomeness to be honest, but oh for youthful enthusiasm....

There's never a bad time for that.

by **RDW** Thu 12 Nov 2015, 12:03 pm

The Edinbrugh social media person really is useless - what's going on with the back row??

Challenge Cup Pool 5: Edinburgh Rugby v Grenoble, 13 November CTnA2YrW4AAk7GZ

Challenge Cup Pool 5: Edinburgh Rugby v Grenoble, 13 November CTnA2YrW4AAk7GZ

Nasi Du Preez at 8 (whoever that is) with Nasi Manu also on the bench - Coman at 7??

by **RDW** Thu 12 Nov 2015, 12:07 pm

They've now put up a link to an interview with Dickinson and Hardie which is actually Denton's interview again.

Have they let the work experience kid take over or something?

by **RDW** Thu 12 Nov 2015, 12:16 pm

They finally managed to sort themselves out:

Edinburgh team v FC Grenoble, European Rugby Challenge Cup, BT Murrayfield

Friday 13 November 2015, kick-off 7.30pm

15 Dougie Fife

14 Damien Hoyland

13 Will Helu

12 Matt Scott

11 Tom Brown

10 Greig Tonks

9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne

1 Alasdair Dickinson

2 Ross Ford

3 WP Nel

4 Anton Bresler

5 Alex Toolis

6 Mike Coman (captain)

7 John Hardie (uncapped)

8 Cornell Du Preez

Substitutes

16 Neil Cochrane

17 Rory Sutherland

18 John Andress

19 Nasi Manu

20 Hamish Watson

21 Sean Kennedy

22 Blair Kinghorn

23 Chris Dean

by Majestic83 Thu 12 Nov 2015, 12:20 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:They've now put up a link to an interview with Dickinson and Hardie which is actually Denton's interview again.

Have they let the work experience kid take over or something?

Yep probably will be the work experience student. My mate did it for a few years when he was doing journalism at uni. All they get for doing it is a free season ticket to give to a friend!

by **RDW** Thu 12 Nov 2015, 12:24 pm

I'd do it for a free season ticket - can't take much time sending the odd tweet!

by Majestic83 Thu 12 Nov 2015, 12:49 pm

The hours that my mate did were certainly pretty long, had to be in normally 4 days a week to do player interviews and also do stuff for whatever tv station was covering the game etc. Match day he would normally have to be there at about midday for a 7.30 kick off.
Edinburgh seemed to take the mickey a bit. The players treated him well though and used to invite him to team nights outs and buy him his drinks.

by funnyExiledScot Thu 12 Nov 2015, 1:10 pm

Majestic83 wrote:The hours that my mate did were certainly pretty long, had to be in normally 4 days a week to do player interviews and also do stuff for whatever tv station was covering the game etc. Match day he would normally have to be there at about midday for a 7.30 kick off.
Edinburgh seemed to take the mickey a bit. The players treated him well though and used to invite him to team nights outs and buy him his drinks.

Well that's got RDW's attention!!

by funnyExiledScot Thu 12 Nov 2015, 1:13 pm

Really like the team selection by the way.

Slightly surprised that Tom Brown continues on the wing with Dougie Fife at fullback, but it's quite a smart move for Fife if he's looking at 15 on a more permanent basis. When Allen is fit the wing slots will get competitive.

Nice blend of experience and young Scots in that line-up as well and a pretty exciting backline. Nice for Alex Toolis to get a run as well after serving as back-up for so long.

by **RDW** Thu 12 Nov 2015, 1:26 pm

funnyExiledScot wrote:
Majestic83 wrote:The hours that my mate did were certainly pretty long, had to be in normally 4 days a week to do player interviews and also do stuff for whatever tv station was covering the game etc. Match day he would normally have to be there at about midday for a 7.30 kick off.
Edinburgh seemed to take the mickey a bit. The players treated him well though and used to invite him to team nights outs and buy him his drinks.

Well that's got RDW's attention!!

Where do I sign?

by **RDW** Thu 12 Nov 2015, 1:26 pm

funnyExiledScot wrote:Really like the team selection by the way.

Slightly surprised that Tom Brown continues on the wing with Dougie Fife at fullback, but it's quite a smart move for Fife if he's looking at 15 on a more permanent basis. When Allen is fit the wing slots will get competitive.

Nice blend of experience and young Scots in that line-up as well and a pretty exciting backline. Nice for Alex Toolis to get a run as well after serving as back-up for so long.

The same backline who had hands like t!t5 last weekend!

by R!skysports Thu 12 Nov 2015, 1:59 pm

You will want to avoid any citings

using the GLove wheel of citing - tier 2 punishments are severe

by funnyExiledScot Thu 12 Nov 2015, 2:05 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:Really like the team selection by the way.

Slightly surprised that Tom Brown continues on the wing with Dougie Fife at fullback, but it's quite a smart move for Fife if he's looking at 15 on a more permanent basis. When Allen is fit the wing slots will get competitive.

Nice blend of experience and young Scots in that line-up as well and a pretty exciting backline. Nice for Alex Toolis to get a run as well after serving as back-up for so long.

The same backline who had hands like t!t5 last weekend!

True - but still better than Strauss at 12, Scott at 13 and Cuthbert at 15, which is what we often get treated to!

by **RDW** Thu 12 Nov 2015, 2:24 pm

Forecast for tomorrow is pishin doon and gale force winds - can't see this one being a classic!

Or very well attended...

by funnyExiledScot Thu 12 Nov 2015, 3:03 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:Forecast for tomorrow is pishin doon and gale force winds - can't see this one being a classic!

Or very well attended...

Well in which case Tonks' long distance kicking skills will come in very handy. Shame the conditions aren't going to be better, as the backline has more talent than usual.

by The Great Aukster Thu 12 Nov 2015, 5:22 pm

George Carlin wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:Good to see this match has generated a lot of interest...
That's why I created all of these first European round match threads. Those that generate eff all interest, I just won't do again!

If I were you I wouldn't do the first round threads again...

...at least until next year.

by justified sinner Thu 12 Nov 2015, 6:21 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:Forecast for tomorrow is pishin doon and gale force winds - can't see this one being a classic!

Or very well attended...

I'll be there, weather's supposed to be a bit better tomorrow than it is just now, Abigail's just arrived.

Btw just had a look on the Hill's site Edinburgh are1/16 and -17 on the handicap. Think a small bet on Grenoble at +17 looks attractive if Edinburgh score 17 never mind win by that I'll be happy and might well go under on total points also.

by **RDW** Thu 12 Nov 2015, 8:45 pm

They sound incredibly generous odds!

by **George Carlin** Fri 13 Nov 2015, 7:52 am

RDW - currently travelling - could you update the OP with teams please?

by EWT Spoons Fri 13 Nov 2015, 8:57 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:They sound incredibly generous odds!

They do and I've had a wee punt, can see us winning but not by more than 15pts.

by **RDW** Fri 13 Nov 2015, 9:00 am

Especially given the forecast

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2650225

I can see it being a similar game to some of our group games last year - completely destroy their scrum, milk penalties and just do enough to win.

In weather like that there's not much else you can do.

by funnyExiledScot Fri 13 Nov 2015, 9:28 am

George Carlin wrote:RDW - currently travelling - could you update the OP with teams please?

No Wifi in Business Class these days?

by des Fri 13 Nov 2015, 10:27 am

I've just put £46 on a handicap win for them.

Our malfunctioning line out will likely cause us some issues and I think it might be easy money.

by **RDW** Fri 13 Nov 2015, 10:40 am

£46 is both a bit of a risk and a very specific amount to put on! Laugh

by des Fri 13 Nov 2015, 11:31 am

It's my winnings from betting against Edinburgh from last week.

by funnyExiledScot Fri 13 Nov 2015, 11:35 am

I must say I've never bet on a rugby match before. I'm not really a gambling man (other than the stock market, which doesn't count according to the US) save for the odd trip to the horses or dogs.

I think Edinburgh would be a tricky team to make money off. So inconsistent. We could just as likely win this by 20 points as lose by 10. We could be dreadful or look promising (only to be dreadful the following week). I also know sod all about Grenoble (other than the fact that Dean Richards once coached them).

by TheMildlyFranticLlama Fri 13 Nov 2015, 12:04 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/34805338

Promising comments from Solomons on how he sees Ritchie and Bradburys futures now that Denton has moved on. I hope this means they will be getting some game time now. Surely they must given he's said "And we've got two young Scottish guys coming through in Jamie Ritchie and Magnus Bradbury who I think are going to be big names in the game."

by funnyExiledScot Fri 13 Nov 2015, 12:11 pm

Well hopefully we can put this Euro group to bed nice and early and have a couple of games where they can get a full 80 minutes. I would say that they could get a game when Zebre come to town, but after tha last debacle against that side I think we'll need to be at full strength just to scrape by.

by des Fri 13 Nov 2015, 12:41 pm

I don't do it to make money. It's to temper the disappointment.

by **RDW** Fri 13 Nov 2015, 12:57 pm

TheMildlyFranticLlama wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/34805338

Promising comments from Solomons on how he sees Ritchie and Bradburys futures now that Denton has moved on. I hope this means they will be getting some game time now. Surely they must given he's said "And we've got two young Scottish guys coming through in Jamie Ritchie and Magnus Bradbury who I think are going to be big names in the game."

We've heard this a lot before from Solomons but the real question is whether he'll play them - with Denton gone we're only one number 8 injury away from then at least looking at a bench spot, but then again he might want to pick Grant at 6 over either of those.

He certainly isn't going to drop Coman any time soon!

by TheMildlyFranticLlama Fri 13 Nov 2015, 1:28 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:He certainly isn't going to drop Coman any time soon!

But how could he?!

Challenge Cup Pool 5: Edinburgh Rugby v Grenoble, 13 November Lovejoy_think_of_the_children_16nov131

by **RDW** Fri 13 Nov 2015, 1:36 pm

by R!skysports Fri 13 Nov 2015, 1:54 pm

All Joking aside

Good Luck to Edinburgh

by R!skysports Fri 13 Nov 2015, 1:55 pm

All Joking front and centre

#tier2

by des Fri 13 Nov 2015, 3:06 pm

#BeyondGroupStages

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