Edinbrugh v Zebre Fri 28th Oct 2016 KO 19:35

[dunna]

McInally did start this game and was part of the team who were losing 12-0. Watson has been starting the last few weeks. So im not sure that those "changes" would have made much difference.

I dont know what the solution is but binning players like Gilchrist, Ford and Hardie is unlikely to be the solution. It is a squad game now and we need depth. Yes start them on the bench but we have been doing that to a degree anyway.

Interesting that Hodge has used Tofilau, Bryce and Rasolea as little as possible since he took over.

A loss to Zebre in that manner is a cultural thing and I agree it could very well be a leadership thing. Solly made a lot of mistakes but he did identify when he arrived a lack of leaders hence Coman and Strauss coming in. Du Preez and Bresler bring a harder edge to the pack but sadly they are injured/short of form.

I was just thinking about Tofilau, Bryce etc the other day. First choice under Solly now bench or no where to be seen. Fowles started the season as first choice scrum half now isn't even on the bench, just seems extremely odd. I don't think you'll see Rennie come in and drop Pygros for Hart.

Some of the recruitment this pre-season was shambles, Scholes has played more games for Gala then Edinburgh and Beavon is just a joke of a signing.

Gilchrist has been massively poor this season, shown little leadership, giving away daft penalties, line-out has been really poor, really not impressed by him. Desperately need Bressler back.

As someone said, its time for a big shake-up, whoever comes in as head coach, if thats Hodge full-time, they need the opportunity to recruit their own backroom staff. Interestingly I was reading about Taylor going to Scotland and how when he moved to Glasgow it was after the Queenslands Reds winning Super Rugby...Peter Wilkins joined us after an extremely poor Reds season where I'm sure they were one of the worst for points conceded.

[zt1903]

McInally did start this game and was part of the team who were losing 12-0. Watson has been starting the last few weeks. So im not sure that those "changes" would have made much difference.

I dont know what the solution is but binning players like Gilchrist, Ford and Hardie is unlikely to be the solution. It is a squad game now and we need depth. Yes start them on the bench but we have been doing that to a degree anyway.

Interesting that Hodge has used Tofilau, Bryce and Rasolea as little as possible since he took over.

A loss to Zebre in that manner is a cultural thing and I agree it could very well be a leadership thing. Solly made a lot of mistakes but he did identify when he arrived a lack of leaders hence Coman and Strauss coming in. Du Preez and Bresler bring a harder edge to the pack but sadly they are injured/short of form.

I was just thinking about Tofilau, Bryce etc the other day. First choice under Solly now bench or no where to be seen. Fowles started the season as first choice scrum half now isn't even on the bench, just seems extremely odd. I don't think you'll see Rennie come in and drop Pygros for Hart.

Some of the recruitment this pre-season was shambles, Scholes has played more games for Gala then Edinburgh and Beavon is just a joke of a signing.

Gilchrist has been massively poor this season, shown little leadership, giving away daft penalties, line-out has been really poor, really not impressed by him. Desperately need Bressler back.

As someone said, its time for a big shake-up, whoever comes in as head coach, if thats Hodge full-time, they need the opportunity to recruit their own backroom staff. Interestingly I was reading about Taylor going to Scotland and how when he moved to Glasgow it was after the Queenslands Reds winning Super Rugby...Peter Wilkins joined us after an extremely poor Reds season where I'm sure they were one of the worst for points conceded.

Re Tofilau, Rasolea and Bryce you can read too much into things. Firstly when Solomons was still here our first choice 12 - Phil Burleigh - was injured. He's now back and it's no surprise that he's starting. Rasolea and Bryce have been in nearly every squad since Hodge took over, albeit on the bench. Who can argue with Kinghorn over Bryce just now? Tofilau, who was never signed as a first (or even 2nd) choice player has dropped out the squad for now. So what?

At scrum half none of the three have been particularly impressive over the last season and a bit. Fowles is limited, Kennedy erratic and SHC lost his form somewhere in the summer of 2015 and hasn't found it since. Hodge is giving Kennedy a run, which is fair enough.

[dunna]

What I'm getting at is that very few of our players in the backs who actually do enough do put a marker down and claim the shirt as theres.

You are spot on with scrum halves. Still hoping SHC discovers his form of 2 seasons ago.

[Friday Knight Lights]

McInally did start this game and was part of the team who were losing 12-0. Watson has been starting the last few weeks. So im not sure that those "changes" would have made much difference.

I dont know what the solution is but binning players like Gilchrist, Ford and Hardie is unlikely to be the solution. It is a squad game now and we need depth. Yes start them on the bench but we have been doing that to a degree anyway.

Interesting that Hodge has used Tofilau, Bryce and Rasolea as little as possible since he took over.

A loss to Zebre in that manner is a cultural thing and I agree it could very well be a leadership thing. Solly made a lot of mistakes but he did identify when he arrived a lack of leaders hence Coman and Strauss coming in. Du Preez and Bresler bring a harder edge to the pack but sadly they are injured/short of form.

I was just thinking about Tofilau, Bryce etc the other day. First choice under Solly now bench or no where to be seen. Fowles started the season as first choice scrum half now isn't even on the bench, just seems extremely odd. I don't think you'll see Rennie come in and drop Pygros for Hart.

Some of the recruitment this pre-season was shambles, Scholes has played more games for Gala then Edinburgh and Beavon is just a joke of a signing.

Gilchrist has been massively poor this season, shown little leadership, giving away daft penalties, line-out has been really poor, really not impressed by him. Desperately need Bressler back.

As someone said, its time for a big shake-up, whoever comes in as head coach, if thats Hodge full-time, they need the opportunity to recruit their own backroom staff. Interestingly I was reading about Taylor going to Scotland and how when he moved to Glasgow it was after the Queenslands Reds winning Super Rugby...Peter Wilkins joined us after an extremely poor Reds season where I'm sure they were one of the worst for points conceded.

All teams have bad signings - look at Glasgow signing Firth and he's only ever on the bench for Currie. Beavon is excusable, if it works great - if not it's just life. To be fair to Scholes I think Brown, Hoyland and Kinghorn have played well but I would like to see him more as he was always useful for Ulster when I watched them.

Our defence is ok under Wilkins, my issue is with Stevie Scott. Look at the names and experience in that pack and for them to perform like they do is pretty awful. Ford and McInally have had lineouts for as long as they have been hookers but they are never fixed, it's ridiculous stuff.

On Gilchrist, I think he needs time in the BT Premiership, he's had two years out and is a liability at present. McKenzie right now is solid and seriously, let's give Carmichael a go. It's maybe a good thing for us GG will be away with Scotland for a while.

[doedin]

Reflecting on the game and having watched the Weegie game and then the Connacht-Munster game in comparison we just look like a team without any identity, direction and leadership. All too often on Friday we looked aimless with too many players looking to others to make a decision or do something different. If someone asked me to describe our style of gameplan I think I would struggle to answer them. It was just rugby by numbers but badly executed! Under Solomons it was 10 man rugby, set piece dominated, booting the ball away unless we were in their 22m and waiting for the oppo to make a mistake. It was awful to watch and it didn't work but we all knew what was coming. Now we just look a bit rudderless and lacking leadership.

It was really interesting to read Hughes comments when asked about his 2 tries for the Weegies on Friday. He said they were both training ground moves and praised Toonie saying he works out all the moves then they practice them endlessly until they get them right. I don't really get the impression that any of our guys would be able to say the same! Similarly Connacht, although they lost played a fast, multi phase game from all areas across the park, are confident in their skill set and know what everyone is doing with excellent ball retention and support. They won the league with not the best individuals but a well drilled team playing fast and good quality ambitious rugby.

On Friday we were down to the last props standing and it showed in the set piece. However We still had enough talent on the pitch to win the game but unlike the Weegies and the likes of Connacht they didn't know, weren't prepared collectively as a team to break down a team like Zebra. It just looked like everyone went through the motions doing their own individual tasks without anyone seeing the bigger picture.

I am not sure if Hodge is the right man for the job or not. He obviously has different views from Solomon about selection - Kennedy coming from last in the queue to first choice for example - and it looks like he didnt entirely agree with Solomons game plans. From the evidence on Friday he has not had enough time to shape the team tactics and shake off the Solomons mindset out of the team. He has also had to cope without our 1st and even 2nd choice props which has been a major loss in both the set piece and in the loose as well as our main man at 10. He has also inherited a squad which is very thin in the backs and some dodgy close season signings. However has he got enough to develop us as a team and develop a style of play that will maximise the return on the squad we have? I'm not sure but I think he needs more time to prove it.

[Frenchy]

I am not sure if Hodge is the right man for the job or not. He obviously has different views from Solomon about selection - Kennedy coming from last in the queue to first choice for example

Not sure it's that drastic a difference. We've rotated our scrum halves quite a lot this season (and last) and Kennedy started Solomons' last match in charge.

[dolf_lundgren]

I was just thinking about Tofilau, Bryce etc the other day. First choice under Solly now bench or no where to be seen. Fowles started the season as first choice scrum half now isn't even on the bench, just seems extremely odd. I don't think you'll see Rennie come in and drop Pygros for Hart.

I dont think you will but sadly Fowles isnt Pyrgos! He was no1 choice mainly by default of the woeful loss of form of Kennedy and SHC. Kennedy seems very much a confidence player who when on form can be devastating and when not is a liability. Solly wouldnt take that risk and Hodge wants/needs to. If Hodge had come in and put Murdo Macandrew in straght away I wouldnt have minded as the other 3 have done nothing recently to suggest they have the shirt nailed down.

Rennie may well come into Glasgow and play Price ahead of Pyrgos. Depends what he wants from his scum half.

[The Feral Goat]

Having a weekend to reflect I realise it is all my fault every game I have missed live this season has been a win, better bin the season ticket now!

If we get nothing else from the game it should be a massive kick up the KelvinDeaker for all involved. Not sure if the Quins game gave them ideas of grandeur and they thought they just had to turn up and throw the ball about to win but Zebre looked to have done their homework and attacked every set piece.

In that respect I don’t think the lineout was entirely down to our failings, Zebre targeted it and put pressure on every throw. There was at least two we won but it was fired back one handed off the top and went loose to which nobody reacted and Zebre claimed it on the floor. However, we have to have a plan B and be able to react and change things a bit.

Decision making was poor, on the odd occasion we did get a penalty we kept going for the corner rather than taking the 3 points, if we had some points on the board earlier in the match some of the pressure would have been off and maybe the team would have relaxed a bit rather than trying to force things and making more and more errors.

Played badly somehow got in a position to win the match then threw it away. Horrible match, hopefully learn something from it and move on.

[germain]

I've not seen the game so I can't say anything about it.
But Hodge still has some credit in my mind. I don't know if he is up for the job, but it's still early to judge him.
The Ulster game will be very interesting.

[bert1945]

I agree with germain the Ulster game will decide if we have made any progress under Hodge. Fridays game might have been a blib.
It was noticeable after Gilchrist went off and Toolis took over as no1 jumper we secured our own ball at line out.
Two things spring to mind about our line outs. 1 we are unable to throw the ball long cant remember ever winning a long ball. This comes down to poor leadership on and of the park. 2 we do much better when ball is thrown without jumpers moving about like they had ants in their pants. This is something Gilchrist seems to want and is high time coaches stopped this.
Finally we have no idea how to play well under pressure. With Edinburgh in the lead we kicked possession away instead of keeping the ball in and letting the clock run down.

[Crichton Gunner]

One key factor leading to their try was Kinghorn's missed penalty to touch in their 22, from which they counter attacked and ultimately scored. If he'd have found touch we'd have had an attacking lineout in or around their 22. I'm not blaming him, but a more experienced kicker would have made sure he found touch, even at the expense of some distance. This is one of the drawbacks of having quite a lot of young players in the team; plenty of enthusiasm but at a cost of experience. Zebre looked a more battle-hardened side, and played a smart game. If we're going to continue with the younger players, we have to expect some poor decision making from them at times as they learn.

[salebree11]

No one can sit here and say Chris Dean is a better 13 than Tofilau or Rasolea without a straight face on.

Tofilau was one of our better players in the game where he got concussed and was finding his form, he was then on the bench for the Connacht game and after that dropped out entirely. He has done 1 year scottish eligibility having played for Kirkaldy and has 2 more years to go until he can be scottish eligible. Chris Dean has done nothing spectacular since been hadned the 13 jersey. I am all for picking the best player but for Tofilau not to even get a spot on the bench is plain WRONG.

Tofilau i would advise you go England or Wales or France somewhere you are not getting wasted. Dont waste your time under a coach who is picking his favourites.

McInally did start this game and was part of the team who were losing 12-0. Watson has been starting the last few weeks. So im not sure that those "changes" would have made much difference.

I dont know what the solution is but binning players like Gilchrist, Ford and Hardie is unlikely to be the solution. It is a squad game now and we need depth. Yes start them on the bench but we have been doing that to a degree anyway.

Interesting that Hodge has used Tofilau, Bryce and Rasolea as little as possible since he took over.

A loss to Zebre in that manner is a cultural thing and I agree it could very well be a leadership thing. Solly made a lot of mistakes but he did identify when he arrived a lack of leaders hence Coman and Strauss coming in. Du Preez and Bresler bring a harder edge to the pack but sadly they are injured/short of form.

I was just thinking about Tofilau, Bryce etc the other day. First choice under Solly now bench or no where to be seen. Fowles started the season as first choice scrum half now isn't even on the bench, just seems extremely odd. I don't think you'll see Rennie come in and drop Pygros for Hart.

Some of the recruitment this pre-season was shambles, Scholes has played more games for Gala then Edinburgh and Beavon is just a joke of a signing.

Gilchrist has been massively poor this season, shown little leadership, giving away daft penalties, line-out has been really poor, really not impressed by him. Desperately need Bressler back.

As someone said, its time for a big shake-up, whoever comes in as head coach, if thats Hodge full-time, they need the opportunity to recruit their own backroom staff. Interestingly I was reading about Taylor going to Scotland and how when he moved to Glasgow it was after the Queenslands Reds winning Super Rugby...Peter Wilkins joined us after an extremely poor Reds season where I'm sure they were one of the worst for points conceded.

Re Tofilau, Rasolea and Bryce you can read too much into things. Firstly when Solomons was still here our first choice 12 - Phil Burleigh - was injured. He's now back and it's no surprise that he's starting. Rasolea and Bryce have been in nearly every squad since Hodge took over, albeit on the bench. Who can argue with Kinghorn over Bryce just now? Tofilau, who was never signed as a first (or even 2nd) choice player has dropped out the squad for now. So what?

At scrum half none of the three have been particularly impressive over the last season and a bit. Fowles is limited, Kennedy erratic and SHC lost his form somewhere in the summer of 2015 and hasn't found it since. Hodge is giving Kennedy a run, which is fair enough.

[ratty]

Frantic lineout movements and an inability to take restarts is a Scottish disease. Why do Scotland and Edinburgh insist on trying to throw long when things aren't going well. They need to learn to throw short until things settle and then mix it up. They'd have a far better chance of throwing to the front jumper for the entire game than they would with over elaborate lineout moves which put pressure on everyone.

[Friday Knight Lights]

Frantic lineout movements and an inability to take restarts is a Scottish disease. Why do Scotland and Edinburgh insist on trying to throw long when things aren't going well. They need to learn to throw short until things settle and then mix it up. They'd have a far better chance of throwing to the front jumper for the entire game than they would with over elaborate lineout moves which put pressure on everyone.

Exactly, the worst call ever made in Scottish rugby history was probably the QF during a shower deciding that Fraser Brown should throw to Dave Denton at the back of a line out with two minutes left only needing to hold out to qualify. They could've thrown to the tallest man on the pitch (Richie Gray) at the front and likely won the match.

Ben Toolis is excellent at the line out. Just throw to him at the front and secure possession, build a foundation and go from there. I liked how Hodge's Edinburgh played with simplicity, it seemed so easy just catching and passing the ball which put teams under pressure. But against Zebre they had to make it so hard for themselves and therefore easy for Zebre. And as you say they then panic which makes things worse.

It is sort of a young team and that some can learn. But Ford will have 102 caps next month, GG was going to captain Scotland before the injuries and Toolis now have 50 appearances for Edinburgh. These guys should be able to work a line out. What are they going to learn from this? Nothing.

[BigD163]

Was at the game after the SGM.

Not good at all. Too many experienced players didn't turn up.