Edinburgh's Heineken Cup draw (Pool 2)

Firstly Thanks for Hobo for his running update of the draw for all those who have a rubbish internet connection at work

Pool 2

Cardiff
London Irish
Edinburgh
Racing

For once I look at the Heineken Cup draw without soiling myself. On paper Edinburgh for once look like they have a real oppertunity to progress to the knockout stages of the tourney and get a wee bit respect and recognition.

What do my fellow posters think of Edinburgh's chances?

Radge, Think it might be home wins and away losses for all 4 teams, in which case bonus points could well count BIG in this pool. Edinburgh should certainly be targeting getting out of the group tho

Spare a thought for us Glasgow supporters.......

Aye that's one tough group Dot

It'll be tough, the blues beat Edinburgh all 4 times last season while having one of their poorest season's since the early regional years.

If we don't find a way to get back to how we were before last season, i can see you beating us when we visit. But if we manage to get a 10 who can get the backs going, then it's 2 wins for the blues I'm afraid

It'll be interesting alright. None of those teams had vintage seasons last year. But none of them are very weak teams either. Edinburgh had a nightmare year but they'll be stronger with a full strength team.

I agree, this pool isn't the usual GROUP OF DEATH OMG pool but it is when you look at it, all 4 teams are pretty evenly matched. The only anomoly is Metro, but we'll see what they're like soon enough

Edinburgh's problems stemmed from Moffat being a numpty!

Anyone who drops players who are performing should have been sacked the second he made a comment like that!

Besides, it's always nice to pencil in an extra trip to Cardiff!

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:Spare a thought for us Glasgow supporters.......

Aye but Dot, you get to visit the west country and Languedoc - never mind the rugby, that's two pinnacles on the tourist trail!!

Edinburgh simply must target this. I'm backing them to get out of the group despite being urine poor for 2010-2011. Next year is a different thing entirely.

gcBlues wrote:I agree, this pool isn't the usual GROUP OF DEATH OMG pool but it is when you look at it, all 4 teams are pretty evenly matched. The only anomoly is Metro, but we'll see what they're like soon enough

Agree 100%, this is the most evenly matched pool and all 4 teams realistically have a chance of winning it. As a London Irish fan, I would have wanted the Blues from tier 1 and one of the Scottish teams from tier 3 as I know that we are capable of beating them both home and away. I suspect fans of those teams would probably feel the same about getting us though. This is going to be a fascinating pool, and I am getting saving now to try to target getting to all three away games.

red_stag wrote:Edinburgh simply must target this. I'm backing them to get out of the group despite being urine poor for 2010-2011. Next year is a different thing entirely.

This is I think the most open group Edinburgh have ever had in this tournament. They really have to capitalise on this by Winning all their home games and Targeting away wins at Cardiff and Colombes.

Wide open group where as ASBO said bonus points will be vital.

If they qualify it could be the catalyst fans need to get behind the Scottish regions.

The thing is, if this had been in the Andy Robinson era I would have been jumping for joy. We had a strong team and a good coach.

I think we currently have the weakest squad we have had for years and a new coach who has little or no pedigree at this level (although I would be delighted if he proved me wrong!)

Good group but we need some new recruits if we are going to seriously compete.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Good group but we need some new recruits if we are going to seriously compete.

Thing is we did get some new recruits. Just ones in positions we don't need! We need another Jim Hamilton and pronto. Scott McLeod leaving has left a massive vaccum in the 2nd row.

Tighten up there and we should be good for the season!

I've never seen such an enthusiastic Edinburgh supporter RuggerRadge!

I think it is fair to say 2nd row isn't the only area of concern! How about our props (minus Cross and chunk for world cup) and at stand off (if Godman gets injured we have a 19 year old academy player!)

funnyExiledScot wrote:Edinburgh actually looks quite strong during that period, particularly the backs. Not much on the bench though, although Lee Jones makes a good impact sub.

1.Traynor 2.Kelly 3.Young 4.Cox 5.Lozada 6.MacDonald 7.Grant 8.Denton 9.Blair(c) 10.Godman 11.Visser 12.King 13.Cairns 14.Webster 15.Thompson

16.Niven 17.Brown 18.Turnbull 19.McInally 20.Leck 21.Hunter 22.Jones

See above mate, FES already posted up a reasonably strong Burgh side during the world cup.

With Chunk, Ford, Cross, Laidlaw, Mossy etc all coming back from world cup duty I can see us with a fairly decent oppertunity this year.

I would like to think this is more than blind optimism though!

Hmmm it is still a few injuries away from being a pretty rubbish team.

I normally am an optimistic Edinburgh supporter (I turn up most weeks despite knowing it will probably be rubbish!) but I can't say I share your optimism for this year. As I said happy to be proven wrong.

p.s. Webster over Lee Jones?? Having a laugh!

I think it 'should'be home wins for all but expect one at least will just click and 2 or 3 away wins. We get to wait and see.

The side I posted above will I think do well against the other ML sides during the WC, largely because they will be more hindered by call-ups. Because Moffatt made such a mess last season, a number of decent Edinburgh players (Kelly, MacDonald, Denton, King, Cairns and Thompson) didn't really get going until after he left, and as such are really out of the WC reckoning.

After the WC the big question is really which players will return jaded, and which will come back strongly (and also, although I hesitate to mention it, when precisely they come home). This is where Edinburgh will suffer in my view, because their front row is the first choice unit, and CP is the starting 15, and as such they made need extended rest following the tournament.

As for the HC group, it's certainly an opportunity. Racing are an unknown quantity, the Blues are not the side they were a couple of seasons back, and Irish have good players to pick from, but have shown that they lack strength across the team and the ability to close out tight matches in their favour. I don't think Edinburgh will get through, but it's their best chance for a while.

As MDM says - Glasgow are in all sorts of trouble next season. I tried to pick their match day squad during the WC period and struggled to name a credible side, and ran out of ideas at lock.

its achievable, but they need to rediscover their form of 2 years ago. Little has changed personnel-wise. They should target home wins from all the games, but they'll struggle to get more than one or two away victories at best. They are capable of beating Cardiff and Irish away, but I certainly wouldnt put money on them pulling it off. As you rightly point out though, this is the first time in a long time they have a genuine shot at making the quarters.

Losing so many players to the WC will be tough, thinking about it they will potentially lose - Blair, Paterson, Ford, Chunk, Cross, Rennie, NDL, Denton, Laidlaw and Cairns. To say that that doesn't leave much cover is a massive understatement. If we're not careful, it could end up being another case of Visser vs Opposition! Obviously other teams will be affected too, but few as drastically as that. I don't know if the WC or enforced rest period following it extends through many of the pool matches, but I imagine that it does, which leaves a lot of untested, inexperienced rookies.

Edinburgh also have precious little foreign internationals, which was a blessing 2 years ago, with NDL, Cairns, Godman etc improving and having a great season. However, without these, they will really struggle against other ML teams who can call upon experienced and seasoned pros rather than youngsters in their first season or two of Pro rugby.

I am far more concerned about the fate of Glasgow though, it's not looking good...

what sort of crowd should we (London Irish Fans) expect when we visit Edinburgh in the heineken cup .
We should bring a good number with us but i don't know what numbers you (Edinburgh Fans) Would expect at these sort of games.



ray.......................................

For big games in the Heineken cup we can get anything from 5000-7000 depending on ticket offers etc. Also it depends when we play you - if it is the last or second last game and we are already out the competition then it will be more like 3000-4000 if we're lucky.

Either way I definitely recommend a trip to Edinburgh - if you haven't been it is well worth a visit!

RDW_Scotland wrote:For big games in the Heineken cup we can get anything from 5000-7000 depending on ticket offers etc.

So best case scenario the stadium is 90% empty? Why play in Murrayfield? You will never get a good atmosphere nor an enjoyable match day experience.

red_stag wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:For big games in the Heineken cup we can get anything from 5000-7000 depending on ticket offers etc.

So best case scenario the stadium is 90% empty? Why play in Murrayfield? You will never get a good atmosphere nor an enjoyable match day experience.

Where else would you play, Staggy?

Surely they have a smaller stadium circa 8,000-10,000 capacity?

Maybe a football stadium, or somewhere in the Borders? But the latter has been tried and failed

red_stag wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:For big games in the Heineken cup we can get anything from 5000-7000 depending on ticket offers etc.

So best case scenario the stadium is 90% empty? Why play in Murrayfield? You will never get a good atmosphere nor an enjoyable match day experience.

There is another thread on this one. Sadly the SRU are mot as liberal in their spending to buy Edinburgh a Stadium like Thormund Staggy

Well I admire the positivity lads but I think Edinburgh need to go up several gears from last season to do anything in this group. And I just don't know if they have those gears at the moment.

I think Edinburgh are actually the weakest side of the 4 and would not be surprised to see a total whitewash.

There won't be a best runner up from this pool and I just don't see them getting at least 4/5 wins to get through.

As mentioned 2nd row is a major problem and as also mentioned all it takes is a few injuries and the squad starts to look very thin.