Edinburgh v Newport Gwent Dragons, 27 November

First topic message reminder :

                           
Edinburgh Rugby v Newport Gwent Dragons
Friday 27 November 2015
KO: 19:35
BT Murrayfield

Live on BBC Scotland and BBC Wales

Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR, 44th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Sam Grove-White, Cammy Rudkin (both SRU)
Citing Commissioner: Iain Goodall (SRU)
TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU)

A. Head to Head

24 Played 24
11 Wins 12
12 Losses 11
1 Draws 1
476 Points 448

B. Form

11 October 2014
Edinburgh Rugby 24 - 10 Newport Gwent Dragons  

8 May 2015
Newport Gwent Dragons 19 - 5 Edinburgh Rugby

C. Teams

Edinburgh Rugby

[tbc]

Newport Gwent Dragons

[tbc]

An Edinburgh back scored!?!?!?

Right, 7 minutes left and men up - pull the finger out Edinburgh!!

Holy crap. I just saw an Edinburgh back score a try!!!

Stop kicking the ball!!!!

How did Hellu not score that???

Got away with a knock on, but how did we not score?!

HOW?!?!?!?!? HOW THE FECK DO YOU NOT SCORE THAT!!!!!!!!

Dorian mun

How did Edinburgh not score there

Scotty man. thank goodness for you...

Well we got the tries but Christ did we make hard work of that

The subs have lifted the tempo - they probably shoujd have been brought on earlier!

Well finally they get the 5 points. Made hard work of it though

Deary me.

Ref trying very hard to earn his team a consolation score. This must be his last game.

Mitrea should be sacked. The standard of his performance was a joke.

Well 5 points is 5 points, but they are still a work in progress!

I liked the look of Blair Kinghorn though, looks a good player in the making. Not much else to say though.

Well that was all a bit Benny Hill at times!

Still, worth remembering that a lot of people on here were calling for Sean Lineen to be made Edinburgh coach a couple of years back so he could make us a hard team to beat like he did at Glasgow. I think Solomons has done just that, we've got a great forward pack but desperately need some more ideas. I think Solomons can leave at the end of the season with his job done, and hopefully we can unearth someone who understands what a back is meant to be doing.

We so obviously need a proper 10 at 10, and its great that Kinghorn is getting game time. Hopefully he can make it at this level

I've never seen a team look so glum after a BP win - and rightfully so.

That really was dire stuff from Edinburgh from an attacking point of view - utter dominance, the opposition received 4 yellow cards yet we only just managed to score 4 tries.

The try scoring has got to improve. Before tonights games we were on an equal number of wins as glasgow, but they were a full 4 points ahead of us because of bonus points. Its the first half of the season and these gaps will only get bigger if improvements arent made.

How did Dragons do? Were we great?

Had to change channel at half time

Amazing, we won the yellow card competition - four in total to their none - #winners

GavinDragon wrote:Amazing, we won the yellow card competition - four in total to their none - #winners

Is it just me or is our scrum so good that it is to the detriment of the rest of our game? We're so reliant on the scrum to win games that we have no idea how to play without that.

Our attacking play is utterly inept.

Cheers Dave im off to see the bottom of a bottle

GavinDragon wrote:Amazing, we won the yellow card competition - four in total to their none - #winners

Cool, I'm glad we won something. It's like the yellow jersey in cycling, right?

RDW_Scotland wrote:Is it just me or is our scrum so good that it is to the detriment of the rest of our game? We're so reliant on the scrum to win games that we have no idea how to play without that.

Our attacking play is utterly inept.

I don't think it's that bad to be honest but it is going nowhere since AS has taken over as a coach.

AS has done a great job bringing that mentality and tough edge but it's time to move on now which ideally should have been at the end of last season. But before talking about a new coach Edinburgh has to secure Nel, Du Preez and Dickinson imo.

Griff wrote:

GavinDragon wrote:Amazing, we won the yellow card competition - four in total to their none - #winners

Cool, I'm glad we won something. It's like the yellow jersey in cycling, right?

thats the rules im playing by - cheers

VinceWLB wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Is it just me or is our scrum so good that it is to the detriment of the rest of our game? We're so reliant on the scrum to win games that we have no idea how to play without that.

Our attacking play is utterly inept.

I don't think it's that bad to be honest but it is going nowhere since AS has taken over as a coach.

AS has done a great job bringing that mentality and tough edge but it's time to move on now which ideally should have been at the end of last season. But before talking about a new coach Edinburgh has to secure Nel, Du Preez and Dickinson imo.

A prime example was just after our third try - we had a ruck just inside our 22, they were two men down yet Hidalgo-Clyne took his time to get his forwards set up and box kicked it away.

I'm not saying we would have ran the length and scored - especially given how inept we were generally - but it just shows such a negative game plan and attitude. We had a comfortable lead and desperately needed a 4th try yet still didn't spread the ball!

Well that was the good the bad and the ugly!

On Mitrea - I rate him as a ref but not his best game - however I as an edinburgh fan thought most of the contentious decisions right - Nel swam forward on his elbows after being down and before  reaching out with the ball - clear double movement.   Tonks charge down / Knock on - there was quite a few M between Tonks and the kicker - it was a very low kick - too far away to be a charge down.  50 / 50 call but I understand why it was ruled knock on.  Harsh yellow on the tip tackle - and Edinburgh should have been given a penalty try at the maul on the line when two guys came round the maul and tackled Watson - the maul was heading for the line.  So two duff decisions - one each way.  Don't listen to Andy Nichol - he doesn't have a clue!  All the other yellows well merited.

Edinburgh badly need some playmakers - Burleigh had a decent game but he is not the 10 we need. Can we have Weir please?  Or Tonks back at 10?  Or a 10 from somewhere - please?  With the advantage of numbers in the backs no one was running in to fix the defense allowing them to drift and cover - someone needed to straighten the line then give the pass.  Hellu - I thought wingers were supposed to have a bit of pace - that was very poor  I don't blame Solly so much apart from perhaps not recruiting the players we need.  You can't score tries with the backs without a playmaker or two in the side

Still - bonus point win - we needed that.

Just looked at the league table - if it wasn't for our poor performance away to Zebre and  messing up a real chance of beating Munster we would have been top!

Once again these are the games that I think we'll look back on having just missed out at the end of the season and thought 'what if'

I think with teams like Glasgow, Leinster and Ulster on a downward curve, Edinburgh should really be aiming at a top 4 finish so this bonus point win was very important.

TJ wrote:Well that was the good the bad and the ugly!

On Mitrea - I rate him as a ref but not his best game - however I as an edinburgh fan thought most of the contentious decisions right - Nel swam forward on his elbows after being down and before  reaching out with the ball - clear double movement.   Tonks charge down / Knock on - there was quite a few M between Tonks and the kicker - it was a very low kick - too far away to be a charge down.  50 / 50 call but I understand why it was ruled knock on.  Harsh yellow on the tip tackle - and Edinburgh should have been given a penalty try at the maul on the line when two guys came round the maul and tackled Watson - the maul was heading for the line.  So two duff decisions - one each way.  Don't listen to Andy Nichol - he doesn't have a clue!  All the other yellows well merited.

Edinburgh badly need some playmakers - Burleigh had a decent game but he is not the 10 we need. Can we have Weir please?  Or Tonks back at 10?  Or a 10 from somewhere - please?  With the advantage of numbers in the backs no one was running in to fix the defense allowing them to drift and cover - someone needed to straighten the line then give the pass.  Hellu - I thought wingers were supposed to have a bit of pace - that was very poor  I don't blame Solly so much apart from perhaps not recruiting the players we need.  You can't score tries with the backs without a playmaker or two in the side

Still - bonus point win - we needed that.

I rate Burleigh very highly - he's a fantastic 'rugby' player in the old fashioned sense of the word. Very intelligent player, strong running game and a clever boot but he's nothing more than a temporary solution at 10.

When he's fit I think he needs to play, but the question is - where?

12 is by far his best position but that would either mean dropping Matt Scott or moving him to 13 - neither of which are ideal.

As a team though I think we have best balance when Burleigh is at 12.

Edinburgh are now level on points with Ulster, i really really hope Solomons plays the strongest team possible for what is a vital league game. Don't care much about the EPC 2nd tier to be honest.

VinceWLB wrote:I think with teams like Glasgow, Leinster and Ulster on a downward curve, Edinburgh should really be aiming at a top 4 finish so this bonus point win was very important.

The season still has a long way to go. All those sides will pick up their games at some stage, Edinburgh will have to do likewise if they want a top four spot. There are some signs there, but we are not seeing the finished product yet by a long way!

How have we ended up without a recognised 10 at all - let alone one and a spare? I agree about Burleigh - he is a good player but he is not a ten

Was at the game,  so may have missed out on some of the insight of those following on TV,  but,

Mitrea lost control  of it when Dragons  refused  to scrum early in the second half, the time they were allowed to waste was ridiculous

Dragons were  offside all game,  touchies were useless (this may be a symptom of big referees telling  touchies  to stay away)

Edinburgh back play shocking when going  through the hands,  lost count of the number of times we lobbed a long slow pass to a stationary man.

Still 5 points.

We win,  we move on.

Well done to the Larry Grayson impersonators.

Bru, you'll need to look that one up or ask Jim.

Just shows that if your pack is granite enough, you don't even need decent halfbacks.

Nel killed us it was an utterly shocking performance from our front row, it has for a long time been our achilles heel but last night was one of the worst I have seen for a long time.

bedfordwelsh wrote:Nel killed us it was an utterly shocking performance from our front row, it has for a long time been our achilles heel but last night was one of the worst I have seen for a long time.

To be fair I think our scrum was better in the semi final - last night the Dragons front row kept collapsing to stop any scrummaging happening, whereas in the semi they stayed up but were marched backwards!

bedfordwelsh wrote:Nel killed us it was an utterly shocking performance from our front row, it has for a long time been our achilles heel but last night was one of the worst I have seen for a long time.

You were up against the front row that were on top of the much vaunted aussie front row. I think yesterday you were badly missing Brok Harris who is at the end of the day your 1st choice tighthead.

Solomons reckons our attack is evolving http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/34950217

Deluded wrote:During a somewhat frustrating first half for the hosts, Edinburgh enjoyed the lion's share of possession and territory, and marshalled by returning pivot Phil Burleigh, showcased some attractive - and effective - offloading rugby.

I would very much disagree with that. Effective offloads are when your support player is coming on at pace and the offload gets them through a disorganised defensive line.

What we were doing was panning it on when a player had been scrag tackled, not fully held, usually a few metres back to a player who was standing still. I can't remember any effective offloads other than Alex Toolis'!

All of the chat during the week was about how they had been working hard on Duncan Hodge's new attacking plan - all I saw of it was random ineffective offloads and blowing 4 on 1 overlaps!

RDW, it wasn't that long ago that Edinburgh aimlessly box kicked anything away. Yes, backs play is still very poor but it's not often they have seen the ball this season! i can see some progress, at least in intent.

Ha I suppose you're right - you are a very positive person if you class loads of box kicks and then what we saw on Friday as positive progress!

I've said it a few times but the Leinster game showed the style of play I think we should play - I thought that was very effective attacking play. We only saw it for that game though and went back to incredibly dull rugby after that.