Edinburgh v Dragons @ Myreside Friday 8th 19:35 (BBC Alba fr

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Re: Edinburgh v Dragons @ Myreside Friday 8th 19:35 (BBC Alb

Postby dolf_lundgren on Mon Sep 11, 2017 4:18 pm

I hadn't picked up on the comment on weight loss, now you mention it he does look smaller. The scrum improved in the second half, not sure if that was a result of Ford, Berghan or Mckenzie.

The weight reduction could well be to allow him to hook the ball more easily, did anyone notice if he was hooking? The directive on putting the ball down the middle is going well! :roll:

Tichtheid, go and watch it again and report back!
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Re: Edinburgh v Dragons @ Myreside Friday 8th 19:35 (BBC Alb

Postby Frenchy on Mon Sep 11, 2017 4:31 pm

dolf_lundgren wrote:I hadn't picked up on the comment on weight loss, now you mention it he does look smaller. The scrum improved in the second half, not sure if that was a result of Ford, Berghan or Mckenzie.

The weight reduction could well be to allow him to hook the ball more easily, did anyone notice if he was hooking? The directive on putting the ball down the middle is going well! :roll:

Tichtheid, go and watch it again and report back!

Scrum halves are paying attention to the "you can now stand a shoulder width towards your side of the scrum" bit, but not the "you must put the ball in straight bit". So it's even worse than before.
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Re: Edinburgh v Dragons @ Myreside Friday 8th 19:35 (BBC Alb

Postby doedin on Mon Sep 11, 2017 6:01 pm

I'm back! Been away but got a chance to watch the game courtesy of catch up TV. I thought we looked ok against a poor Dragons team but a bit worried what a good team might have done against us. To be honest we had about an excellent 20 mins and the rest of it was a bit meh! Team still looks under cooked and as well as Nel I think a lot of players are still getting up to speed with their game, fitness and Cockerills expectations. Some observations:

- tackling technique has changed, now first tackler is going in fast and low and going for lower legs and then second guy trying to get over the ball. Didnt see many guys trying to go high in the tackle. It seems to work and they obviously have done a lot of work on their technique

- defensive line is well organised and everyone gets back up to feet and into their position asap. Good decision making about when to commit and when not to. Noticeable how little space we gave them and line speed was excellent. No doubt the benefit of McCrea's coaching, we looked comfortable defending.

- Set pieces were not as dominant as I would have expected against Dragons. Scrum didnt overpower and line out was a bit ropey which is disappointing given we have the best Pro12/14 line out man in Toollis.

- Half backs need more work, neither SHC nor Weir looked comfortable running the game but they are getting there. Centres were excellent, Dean looks so much more confident with Freuan beside him. What a line by Freuan to score the last try and an obvious rehearsed move to use the forwards as a 'shield' to confuse the defence

- we look very fit as a team

- Kinghorn was head and shoulders above everyone else on the field. He has clearly got his mojo back after a spell with u20s and looks to have developed physically. A real prospect! Hoyland looked hungry and solid in defence. Harries needs more time to adjust to the speed of this level but will improve.

OK we struggled at times against what will likely be one of the worst teams in the league but we won. Need some improvement though to compete for top 3 or 4 place.
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Re: Edinburgh v Dragons @ Myreside Friday 8th 19:35 (BBC Alb

Postby Friday Knight Lights on Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:03 pm

doedin wrote:
- defensive line is well organised and everyone gets back up to feet and into their position asap. Good decision making about when to commit and when not to. Noticeable how little space we gave them and line speed was excellent. No doubt the benefit of McCrea's coaching, we looked comfortable defending.

- Half backs need more work, neither SHC nor Weir looked comfortable running the game but they are getting there. Centres were excellent, Dean looks so much more confident with Freuan beside him. What a line by Freuan to score the last try and an obvious rehearsed move to use the forwards as a 'shield' to confuse the defence

- we look very fit as a team

- Kinghorn was head and shoulders above everyone else on the field. He has clearly got his mojo back after a spell with u20s and looks to have developed physically. A real prospect! Hoyland looked hungry and solid in defence. Harries needs more time to adjust to the speed of this level but will improve.

OK we struggled at times against what will likely be one of the worst teams in the league but we won. Need some improvement though to compete for top 3 or 4 place.


One issue I have is the defence is very narrow and at times the Dragons did get around the sides and make some serious ground, it's something to watch going forward as analysts and coaches will have clocked it.

Kinghorn still needs to improve his defence - stats have him down as missing three tackles - I remember one he got nudged off and Hewitt beat him in a phonebox twice, for the better teams in the league it's certainly something he needs to tighten up and I hope that's McRae's priority as his shaky defence will be what holds him back.

On half backs Fowles has looked v decent, the pass to Fruean was nice.
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Re: Edinburgh v Dragons @ Myreside Friday 8th 19:35 (BBC Alb

Postby zt1903 on Mon Sep 11, 2017 10:33 pm

Really pleased with the improvement thus far, bodes well.

Having rewatched the game whilst the Drags were generally a bit pish it was noticeable that Henson is too good for them.
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