Edinburgh Rugby vs Munster Rugby: Pro12 3rd Feb

Edinburgh Rugby vs Munster Rugby
Date: 3/02/2017
KO: 19.35
Location: Myerside
TV: Sky Sports


Form:

Edinburgh
I'm not really putting much thought here, but Edinburgh's form is pretty mixed, league not up to much, Europe considerably better.

Munster
Not bad

Teams:

Edinburgh
Whoever Vern doesn't want.....so we should have a fair few players

Munster
Whoever Joe doesn't want....might be less well off.

Glad this game is on TV - it should be a decent contest and I'm looking forward to seeing what Myreside is like. I'm sure there will be plenty Munster fans there too.

Can the mighty Edinburgh halt the Munster juggernaut?

EWT Spoons wrote:Edinburgh Rugby vs Munster Rugby: Pro12 3rd Jan

3rd Jan ?

So the bookies have Edinburgh as reasonable favourites (-4 points).

I think that's fair if they turn up.  However, there's only a 50% chance that they will.  

We've not been hit by Scotland call-ups like Glasgow but we've probably been hit harder than Munster.

Still, looking forward to it.  It's a shame Keith Earls isn't there to wind up though.

Edinburgh favourites?! Do they know anything about rugby??

LordDowlais wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Edinburgh Rugby vs Munster Rugby: Pro12 3rd Jan

3rd Jan ?

I love January, I'm not ready for it to be over...

The game is now sold out. Nice that the first two games at Myerside have sold out, expect a similar situation for the Cardiff game as well.

McInally, Toolis, CDP and Hardie all released, so the pack ought to be decent.

Head Coach Duncan Hodge has named six personnel changes to his Edinburgh Rugby side for tomorrow night’s (Friday 3 February) Guinness PRO12 encounter with Munster at a sold-out Myreside (kick-off 7.35pm) – live on Sky Sports.

John Hardie makes his Edinburgh Rugby return

Among the changes to the forward pack is John Hardie, who returns to the side for the first time since undergoing corrective surgery on an ankle injury sustained in Scotland’s 2016 Autumn Test against Australia (12 November).

Hodge has made two further amendments to the forward pack with Jack Cosgrove and Murray McCallum set to start at loosehead and tighthead prop respectively.

In the backline scrum-half Sean Kennedy and stand-off Jason Tovey enter the fray, while Phil Burleigh returns to start at inside centre.

Acting Head Coach, Duncan Hodge, said: “We’re looking forward to heading back to a packed house at Myreside on our return to league duties.

“Munster are an outfit heading to Edinburgh on fine form and with a chance of going top of the table, but we’ve also hit a fine vein of form in recent times which gives us a lot of confidence going into the game.

“We’ve got a good blend of youth and experience throughout the squad – with a lot of settled looking combinations – and a team who will want to play an up-tempo and attacking brand of rugby.”

Blair Kinghorn, Damien Hoyland and Tom Brown continue in a settled back-three combination, while Chris Dean moves to outside centre to accommodate for the incoming Burleigh.

Neil Cochrane will captain the side and accompany Cosgrove and McCallum in the front-row, with Ben Toolis and Fraser McKenzie packing down at lock.

Hardie is joined in the back-row by blindside flanker Magnus Bradbury and number eight Cornell Du Preez.

Edinburgh Rugby team to play Munster in the Guinness PRO12 at Myreside tomorrow (Friday 3 February, kick-off 7.35pm) – live on Sky Sports

15. Blair Kinghorn

14. Damien Hoyland
13. Chris Dean
12. Phil Burleigh
11. Tom Brown

10. Jason Tovey
9. Sean Kennedy

1. Jack Cosgrove
2. Neil Cochrane CAPTAIN
3. Murray McCallum
4. Fraser McKenzie
5. Ben Toolis
6. Magnus Bradbury
7. John Hardie
8. Cornell Du Preez

Replacements

16. Stuart McInally
17. Derrick Appiah
18. Nick Beavon
19. Lewis Carmichael
20. Viliame Mata
21. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22. Michael Allen
23. Rory Scholes



Unavailable due to injury: Kevin Bryce (shoulder), Alasdair Dickinson (foot), Will Helu (hand), Nasi Manu (shoulder), WP Nel (neck), Alex Northam (Achilles), Rory Sutherland (groin), Kyle Whyte (knee)

Our proping resources are pretty gash - particularly the bench! Both will be making their debut

Good side all things considered. Gilchrist is no real loss, and neither is Weir.

As noted by RDW, the props are pretty rubbish, but the remainder of the side looks handy, with good bench impact in the backs and from Mata.

Apparently we're going to be treated to Stuart Barnes and Scott Hasting discussing the Lions pre-match - make sure you tune in for that...!

I've just stuck £15 on Munster for this so we'll probably get a win.

I'd also suggest our back row is potentially better than Scotland's. That's assuming Hardie hasn't forgotten how to tackle.

Weather wise, it looks like the heavy rain originally forecast for tonight has been pushed back to tomorrow. The Myreside pitch doesn't look like it can handle much rain so that's a positive.

Here's the Moanster team:

Munster: Jaco Taute; Calvin Nash, Francis Saili, Dan Goggin; Ronan O'Mahony; Tyler Bleyendaal Capt, Duncan Williams; Peter McCabe, Rhys Marshall, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Dave Foley; Dave O'Callaghan, Conor Oliver, Jack O'Donoghue.

Replacements: Kevin O'Byrne, Dave Kilcoyne, Brian Scott, Darren O'Shea, Billy Holland, Tommy O'Donnell, Angus Lloyd, Rory Scannell.

I don't recognise many of those namaes - are Munster fans confident?

Edinburgh tend to do well at home against the big teams but then lose to Zebre - so I am fully expecting a win then a massive fall back down to earth in the coming weeks!

The key will be whether those Munster props can scrummage. I've seen Archer play before and he's a big lad, not sure about his technique though. Struggling with a lot of those names though.

If someone is at the game can they find who is squeezing that fecking horn.

Worrying start in the scrums

How can this be classed as a sellout?? One of the stands behind the pitch is half empty!

Edinburgh scrum now looking much more solid

Not a bad attack from Edinburgh but lacking a bit of accuracy - passes behind, low, high etc

Edinburgh giving away too many soft penalties

Munster's kicking game causing us lots of problems

Deserved yellow - silly from the Munster 9

Jerry flannery doesn't know the difference between Edinburgh and Glasgow...

More good scrummaging from Edinburgh, even with Killkoyne on now.

Very important to be up at halftime - we need to up our game though because Munster look far more dangerous.

Decent defence to keep Munster out at half time there. Plenty of times in the recent past, they would have shipped a score there.

Not exactly a classic, but if Edinburgh can stay in the game then who knows what may happen.

Better from Edinburgh - we desperately need some territory

Waste from Tovey - first time in their 22 for ages and he needlessly kicks straight into touch

Their 13 made no attempt to use his arms there - poor call

Our lineout has completely collapsed -not helping our need for territory

That probably was high from Hardie but not as bad as the Munster one he didn't give!

Ffs Tovey!!

He's really not helped us in the territory battle.

This really has been an awful game, I would switch over to the U20s if it was not so close!

Munster have kicked it out on the full 3 times this half, we have then lost the ball from our line out every time after

If we lose this a massive factor will be our complete inability to get territory and keep it

Tovey really has had a terrible game. Bring back Dunkie!

What an awful game of rugby.

Kinghorn misses a kick to win it on 83rd minute

Poor performance from Edinburgh - complete inability to gain possession and territory and Tovey had his worst game for Edinburgh.

Positives from the young props who played 80 minutes and won a few scrum penalties.

Well that was a load of pish.

Myreside sounded a lot better than Murrayfield anyway!

RDW_Scotland wrote:Myreside sounded a lot better than Murrayfield anyway!

Congratulations on finding a positive, im still searching

Although Myreside on a wet miserable night doesnt provide as much cover as murrayfield, I bet that game will have put a few people off returning

What a pile of old scrote.

Sounds like a typical Edinburgh story of missed opportunities. Any standout performers other than the young propping duo?

Did Rory Scholes the disappearing man make it onto the pitch?

Flattering writeup from the BBC:

The only thing that was coherent about Edinburgh was their defence. Everything else about them was passive. They lacked fire, accuracy and any kind of control.

The conditions didn't help but we just couldn't get any momentum - making mistakes or getting turned over after a few phases.

Our territorial play was awful and our exit strategies were poor - something Hodge acknowledged.

Toolis played well (bar a collapse in the lineout in the 2nd half) and Hardie had a decent first game back. Bradbury was quiet but CDP was completely anonymous. What has happened to him??

Kennedy had a decent game and Hoyland looked sharp.

Kinghorn struggled and probably should have been subbed for scholes (who didn't get on)=