2 new signings for Edinburgh...

... but neither of them the second row that is required!
Steve Lawrie from Doncaster Knights n the championship & new defence coach Billy McGinty who looks as hard as nails and with a name like that he must be

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:... but neither of them the second row that is required!

I dunno what this is all about, he must have something up his sleeve in terms of Second rows that he is just not telling us, or the media or his fans.........

Pretty hard to get excited about the signing of a 3rd choice hooker and a new defence coach, but at least there's some forward planning going on behind the scenes.

It's becoming increasingly obvious to me that a deal has been done to sign both Botha and Matfield after the World Cup has finished, and that we just need to be patient.

Sam Whitelock and Brad Thorn also approached the Edinburgh coaching staff but was politely declined since we thought signing another Hooker was the best way forward.

Who Knows maybe Andy Kelly will drop into the 2nd row in a stunning Haddenesque move

No one else concerned about the lack of stand off cover?

The Edinburgh wikipedia page lists your second rows as being; Esteban Lozada, Grant Gilchrist, Sean Cox and Steven Turnbull. That's really not so hot.

Lozada - small for a 2nd row
Gilchrist - still only 20 ish
Sean Cox - failed in the premiership
Turnbull - small for a 2nd row. And rubbish.

Yup we need more!

Lets look at stand off too:

Godman
erm....
eh....
Someone who usually plays scrum half.
A 19 year old academy plater

Why sign another scrum half and hooker??????

I reckon Laidlaw and Godman will be cover for fly half, I also reckon Cairns or Mossy could slot in there too, 2nd row is priority 1 for me

Last year i felt Edinburghs pack was a bit on the small side at times and now you've let Hamilton and McKenzie go...

Will Godman and Laidlaw both go to the World Cup? And if so, why the flip did you let go of Alex Blair?! And what happened to Rory Hutton?

Last season I remember thinking 'Well, thats good for Edinburgh- they have two promising young outhalves" then I come back this summer and you've gotten rid of them both?

Who on earth is making the decisions up there?

Gordon Mckie probably - who is now gone so hopefully this kind of nonsense will stop.

Godman won't go to the World Cup, and I think it's touch and go as to whether Laidlaw will go. They'll likely need a kid or club player to cover Godman during the WC.

As for Alex Blair and Rory Hutton, two poor decisions. Basically bad coaching judgment. They went for David Blair instead of Hutton, a poor call, and have just let Alex Blair walk away simply because his injury record allowed them to terminate his contract for free (he's fit now). I heard Alex Blair is going to Sale now. Hopefully that move works out.

The second row options are awful.

Notch wrote:Who on earth is making the decisions up there?

Michael Bradley

To be fair stag the Blair/Hutton debacle was before his time.

The fact that he is now making the decisions (like signing yet another scrum half, a hooker we let go a few years ago and a failed 2nd row) fills me with dread though.

Here's hoping they all prove me wrong!

What I'm not sure about is whether the Alex Blair debacle was before his time or not. It happened after his appointment was announced, but before he officially came on board. I wonder how much input he had there. You'd seriously hope he was at the very least consulted, but then there's a part of me that hopes he wasn't, because in my view it was utterly dreadful judgment.

I still think Edinburgh appointed the wrong man. I hope I'm wrong.

I think Alex Blair was decided a while ago - the announcement might have been after he joined but I am pretty sure the rumours started long before that. I am pretty sure it wasn't Bradely on this one.

I'll blame Mckie!

I know some of us debated this subject on the BBC boards but, let's remember that rugby isn't a charity. I don't know if Alex Blair's recovery was exepcted or what but I can't help bring up the subject of the guy Easson who was on Edinburgh's books for 3 years (having signed anew contract at one point and he was injured for every single day) - why pay a guy to take a place on the roster when esomeone else could fill it?
That said, the lack of cover at lock does worry me.
With us tripping over scrum-halves, I imagine that Laidlaw will be "officially" moved to stand-off. He himself had talked about moving to 10 last season.
On the plus-side, I don't see the team getting decimated by world cup call-ups.

For the love of Oprah.

They're either signing 19 different centres or they've more hookers than Amsterdam town centre.

They did need a defense coach desparately and Billy with his league background could be good but they also need some grunt in the boiler room and a ten that actually can run a game.

When is this going to happen?

InjuredYetAgain wrote:I know some of us debated this subject on the BBC boards but, let's remember that rugby isn't a charity. I don't know if Alex Blair's recovery was exepcted or what but I can't help bring up the subject of the guy Easson who was on Edinburgh's books for 3 years (having signed anew contract at one point and he was injured for every single day) - why pay a guy to take a place on the roster when esomeone else could fill it?

A few points here. Firstly Alex Blair is now fit by all accounts. He's had an injury hit season, as have many players (like Godman). Only a reason to terminate in my view if the injury is longer term and recovery isn't certain - not the case with Alex Blair. Secondly, I agree, Easson was clearly an error, but Alex Blair is one of our hottest young talents in a position where we aren't exactly overwhelmed with creative ability. Thirdly, even if I were to agree with you that the release clause should have been activated, you suggest that he shouldn't be taking up a place on the roster when another player could have that place. Who is this other player? I see no indication that Edinburgh had an alternative player lined up, and certainly not a better Scottish one. In fact they'd just lost his brother David.

I'm sorry, but it's a barking decision.

On that subject - looks like Alex is off to Sale:

http://www.edinburghrugby.org/content/view/3561/2/

I really hope he gets fit and shows Edinburgh what they are missing. As long as he still plays for Scotland though!

I saw that - I really hope that move goes through. Sale are in rebuild mode and as such I see it very much as a meritocracy there next season with few preconceptions as to what the first squad will look like. Perfect for younger players looking to break through.

Another player let go that I just don't quite get: David Young off to Leeds - he wouldn't be an automatic first choice, but started a few games last season, and with Cross away at the RWC (likely) would presumably have seen more action this season - is Bradley going to be unconventional and field 15 backs?!

When I read the article on Edinburgh's website about another player departing I was somewhat releived to see Young leaving, whilst we have a silly ammount of backs I was paranoid Esteban Lozada or Gilchrist might have been leaving.

Whilst losing a front row player is a shame, we have far weaker areas that we could have lost players from. Granted we could definitly shed some centres though.

I think the centre situation is probably ok now. It was when they signed Grove on loan last season that it looked pretty silly.

First choice pairing next season should be King and Cairns, with Houston and De Luca as the second choice pairing.

Young was good cover, but was never going to be more than that. I'd be happy to see a youngster coming through to be understudy to Cross.