Edinburgh Rugby vs Scarlets: Pro12 Sunday 28th Feb

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Edinburgh form
Last 3 Matches
19/2/16 Ospreys 27 - 13 Edinburgh
12/2/16 Scarlets 22 - 21 Edinburgh
30/1/16 Blues 10 - 3 Edinburgh

Scarlets form
Last 3 Matches
21/2/16 Ulster 20 - 21 Scarlets
12/2/16 Scarlets 22 - 21 Edinburgh
30/1/16 Connacht 30 - 17 Scarlets

Teams

Edinburgh
TBC

Scarlets
TBC

Referee: Dudley Phillips - IRFU
Asst. Ref: Keith Allan & Kevin Ormiston SRU (both)
Citing commissioner: Iain Goodall
TMO: Neil Paterson

Berghan really is some unit.

Eejit wrote:Berghan really is some unit.

Should start every game while Nel is away from now on.

Edinburgh should thank Aled Thomas for that win, arguably didn't deserve to win.

Enjoyable game from what I saw. As usual we struggled to break through their defence in the second half, but it was a bit sharper than we've seen at other points in the season. Scarlets breakdown work was pretty good, Watson was straight over the ball at the breakdowns but was cleared out quickly.

Thought Kennedy was a bit useless, but other than him the youngsters have done a good job

That was an entertaining match, fair play. I think Aled Thomas must have decide it wasn't fair sneaking the win with the last minute kick last time, and left his kicking boots at home

ScarletSpiderman wrote:That was an entertaining match, fair play.  I think Aled Thomas must have decide it wasn't fair sneaking the win with the last minute kick last time, and left his kicking boots at home

Good point, Edinburgh should have won at Parc Y Scarlets and you should have won today so it evens out

Too kind

They've just shown his last miss again and it was a bad one, the game was definitely there for the taking. I for one am delighted you guys didn't do so

If I was Cotter I'd think about asking Berghan to join training this week, looks to me like he could potentially be an ideal backup for Nel. For a huge bloke he works hard away from the scrum. Certainly worth a place on the summer tour. Dell is also looking good, considering he and Berghan are regarded as Edinburgh's third choice 1 and 3 it's pretty good strength in depth.
Also thought Toolis was excellent today.

I'm exceptionally gutted to have lost, but just can't shake the feeling there was some poetic justice in Edinburgh winning. On the plus side, there are positives for the Scarlets to take from this game, and we are still hanging in the playoff spots, just (factoring in games in hand etc).

One big positive for us is our new 10 has just won the game in the last 10 mins for the Blues and denied Ulster even a LBP, really cant wait to see how we go next season with Patchel at 10.

Great defensive effort from Edinburgh today but a few Scarlets players really let themselves down, Kirby been excellent the last 2 games but was potentially as guilty as Aled Thomas for that loss with the stupid neck roll turnover that started the play leading to Edinburgh's last try.
Phil John gave away several penaltes in the scrum, the 1st of which just 1 minute into the game, looks like age is finally catching up with him.

Frustrating but entertaining game, certainly a better watch than either the Wales or England games.

What was really pleasing about that win was the number of youngsters that played a key part in it.

Kinghorn and Ritchie were in school last year and played 80 - the former's kicking accuracy helping us win.

Dell, Turner, Berghan, Toolis, Ritchie, Watson, Bradbury, Kennedy, Dean, Hoyland and Kinghorn are all young and most importantly, SQ.

You could credit Solomons for this, but to be fair there's not really anyone else available!

Where he is due credit is his subs - Du Preez comfortably had his worst Edinburgh performance and Solomons made the bold decision to sub him off early for Bradbury, who went on a barnstorming run to set up the winning try!

Sutherland, Turner/McInally, Berghan, Toolis*2, Ritchie, Watson, Bradbury. That's a great pack building up, all young and SQ. Exciting times ahead!

Watched the game. Probably fair enough considering Du Preez decided to hand the Scarlets a free 7 points (also the previous result). Some notes.

Berghan came on at half and beat up John. Did not dominate the Scarlets replacement but still looked good and he should be the bench option behind Nel for the rest of the season. Not sure if I risk him starting against Connacht's beasts and losing confidence but Newport and Zebre are nailed on for me. Allan played well and something has to give with so many good looseheads at Edinburgh (I rated Shiells at Newcastle and he still looks decent). Shiells should get a loan to LS outside of internationals.

Toolis plays well. Scotland bench. Put him on it. Bresler not as noticeable as normal. He has stopped picking fights with his new haircut. Not sure how to feel about this.

Ritchie had a nervy start with those 2 kickable penalties before having a great last hour. Watson not as noticeable as normal but he was fighting the Scarlets 7 who had a stormer. Du Preez needs a break! He has played a lot. Bradbury showed he can carry. Du Preez is more of a 6 to me. Manu coming back would help as well. Bradbury did a couple of good things. Want to see him given a start against Newport as well.

Burleigh is quality. Happy he re-signed. Centres look competent. Shame Beard is leaving. Good 4th-5th centre for a decent team. Dean was okay from what I could tell. Competence is a step up from where Edinburgh were a year ago. Still need a quality signing or someone to step up for the 13 jersey outside of Burleigh next season.

Brown and Hoyland were mixed. Good on attack. Defensively left out to dry but some of the tackling was poor (I know the Scarlets were leaving Pitman out there to hurt them). Kinghorn can kick off the tee! Needs to work on ball in hand. Is Chris Paterson around to teach him a bit? Impressed with him. Earned another start some point this season. Cuthbert and Tonks have been given notice.

Unhappy with the defensive alignment. Scarlets were abusing the wings. Still feel tackling needs work. It should not require 2-3 players each time. Need to look who is opposite you. The backs against big boys and big boys against little men was happening far too often.

Overall happy (barring almost killing my TV when Du Preez had his....incident ). Good to see a lot of young players get game time and prove they may have a future. Want to see more of this.

P.S. Happy to see Kellock give the MOTM to the Scarlets 7 even though Scarlets were losing. He had a stormer and I dislike the "it must go to the winning team." He was the best player on the park. Only Burleigh maybe came close over the course of 80 minutes.

Fair summary Hazel.

Kinghorn reminds me of Finn Russell when he's on the ball - very nonchalant to the point that he almost looks lazy! He's got a great basic skill set though - huge boot, great pace and good passing - but he certainly has a lot to improve on.

We've never had really seem him at 10 but I suspect 15 might be his best position.

The Scarlets 7, James Davies, is immense. A ball of energy. Hard cheese for him that he's got Warburton and Tipuric to compete with.

I've been impressed with Kinghorn all season. Really belongs at this level and looks to have a great allround skillset. I thought Beard had a really good shift as well. I think we've made a mistake letting such a handy squad player move to a direct competitor.

Really pleased with the win, although much to work on. We handed them some soft points yet again, which we need to stop doing.