Edinburgh v Ospreys

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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby doedin on Sun Nov 05, 2017 2:10 am

Excellent display in 2nd half, it was almost like watching the weegies! Ok the Os were short of a lot of their first XV and have lost a lot of their games in pro 14 this season but you can only beat what is in front of you and we did that relatively easily.

There was some serious improvements tonight, particularly in the 2nd half. However the most important thing was we didnt panic despite playing poorly for the first 20mins and I suspect our captain was instrumental in that. There seemed to be a confidence that despite falling behind we would come back and we did. I would like to think that McKenzie was key to this. Both he and Gilchrist, as senior players, took a lot more responsibility on the park and made big inroads carrying the ball. They set the example.

The team seemed to recognise that we needed a different strategy to the kick and chase and suddenly decided to keep the ball in hand, go through the phases and look for the gaps/mismatches/overlaps. It worked and we grew in confidence as we began to control the game and play on the front foot. Suddenly Tovey played flat and attacked the line and brought runners into the game, our backs began to take ball at pace and attack inside shoulders and we had support runners all over the place. It was great to watch a team play like they were enjoying what they were doing instead of just going through the motions and delivering AlainRolland all. This was so different to the last few home games and watching our guys play to their potential was fantastic.

For me three players stood out.

- JJ was outstanding at 13 and created any number of chances, he was always there to link play up and bring other players into the game. He made the right decisions, stayed on his feet, supported the ball carrier and added pace. JJ was my Man of the Match. Give him a 15s contract now.
- Crosbie is the 6 we have been looking for, big, physical, dynamic and strong defensively and in attack. He worked his socks off and some of his clearing out was just brutal. I would love to see his stats - he carrier and tackled all day long. He is definitely a real find.
- Lastly CdP showed the class we all knew he had but had gone missing recently. On the front foot his carrying and off loading was excellent. Along with Crosbie they dominated the back row battle.

I also thought that this is the sort of gameplan that would suit SHC better. Fowles was a bit slow to the breakdown at times and not as dynamic as required to suit the gameplan. Although his passing and box kicking is better he doesn't quite have the pace or threat around the breakdown of SHC. If this is our new normal then lets get SHC into the team.

Lets hope we carry our new found confidence into our wee trip to SA.
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby The Feral Goat on Sun Nov 05, 2017 8:34 am

DuPreez top tackler, joint top carrier and more passes than anyway other than half backs.

Burleigh looks to have got through a lot of work as well but nice to see all the backs have good attacking stats.

http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/playerstats ... gue=270557
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby Crichton Gunner on Sun Nov 05, 2017 9:20 am

joe soap wrote:
Crichton Gunner wrote:Best performance in quite a few years, I'd say. Some of our back play was a joy to watch, and credit should be given to Hodge for his part in that. A performance full of fight and skill, we actually looked like a proper rugby side. Very encouraging for the rest of the season.


well CG, I'd agree with your first sentence. Keeping feet firmly on terra firma, Ospreys without the sheer will to win of Jones and Bigger were actually quite toothless after a flash start.But a very good all round performance and result.

On the backs and Hodge, was it a fluke and one off, or was it that the much maligned (by folk on here) Hodge is suddenly a great coach; or was it just a case of the backs were never that bad as some made out and tonight the pack really fired and gave them consistent good front foot ball?

If it was just that some of the things the backs had been trying to do for months worked better last night, then l'd say probably a one-off. But some of the moves our backs carried out were a big improvement on what we've even being attempting in recent years, so I think that's down to the way we are trying to play rather than it just being "a good night". I was being slightly provocative in praising Hodge for this, but he has had a lot of criticism on here and if our back play is improving then deserves credit for it. Maybe we are seeing why he survived the cull at the end of last season.
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby Frenchy on Sun Nov 05, 2017 10:43 am

Highlights anywhere?
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby Weegie on Sun Nov 05, 2017 10:55 am

Frenchy wrote:Highlights anywhere?


Whole match is on YouTube.
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby Frenchy on Sun Nov 05, 2017 11:36 am

So it is. Ta!
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby Friday Knight Lights on Sun Nov 05, 2017 11:54 am

Watched it again this morning and enjoyed it just as much.

Really liked Cockers interview saying the players don't realise how good they are. Years of losing and apathy does that but it's starting to change, you could see the confidence out there last night.

Hodge does deserve some credit and we're seeing a bit of the Scotland attack under him come through where players have options and forwards are distributing more. Of course when you have an 8 with the hands of du Preez it makes that easier. But also, Hodge now has a team that wins most collisions, the majority of ball we had was front foot which makes everything easier. And it helps you can unleash Kinghorn who is in sparkling form.

It also helps JJ and Fife have 7s experience as they were always anticipating that break, Kinghorn and Fowles/SHC naturally do that and Tovey is very good head up fly half.
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby malkster1 on Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:27 pm

Surprised that people see this as a huge leap. It is simply an incremental step forward of the solid progress that has been obvious this season. You walk before you try and "run". Foundations have been laid and it is now about building on top of them.
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby Wottie on Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:57 pm

Play like that every week and we should hopefully soon be packing out Myreside!

It's an easy game when your 2nd and back row carry often and hard over the gain line, you win the contact, ball handling skills eradicate knock-ons and your opponents back line are worried about the threat from 10, 13 and 15. It is hard to identify any part of our game last night that warranted criticism. Even in the 1st half when they had ball and field position, the defence looked really good. If you had to find something to be picky about, there was a bit of indiscipline at the breakdown and we conceded a few unnecessary penalties.

Just a shame we go into a two week break given the momentum the side are carrying. Going to be an interesting test down in South Africa after that. Good to see they lookalike they are being televised.
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby joe soap on Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:06 pm

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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby joe soap on Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:09 pm

Wottie wrote:It's an easy game when your 2nd and back row carry often and hard over the gain line, you win the contact,


spot on. The ball carriers rightly get praise, but it was the support and clear that meant that the carries were not in vain. Fowles also got it away smart and Tovey looked a top player. Amazing how good the backs look with lots of front foot ball.
And how bad they have looked without it.
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby Frenchy on Sun Nov 05, 2017 8:54 pm

Thought Fowles played very well.

Tom Brown also looked pretty sharp whilst he was on. Looked in a bad way going off though.
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby The Feral Goat on Mon Nov 06, 2017 10:26 am

Thought that was a really solid performance some good tries but most impressive for me was our control of the ball and the work rate of all involved, thought we looked like a proper team that was playing for each other.

Breakdown work was really good the backrow in particularly cleared out well and we did not over/under commit numbers as we have done in the past. Looks like we have a general game structure in place where everyone knows what they should be doing and you can see the confidence growing. Tougher tests to come but I think we are in a pretty good place at present.
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby Legless on Mon Nov 06, 2017 12:18 pm

Really enjoyed the game and hardly noticed how cold it was, usually the sign of a good game. we seem to have several players coming into or regaining form and confidence is growing but it'll take a bit more to convince the supporters, we've been here before and had hope and belief in abundance only to then crash and burn. The motto of the Edinburgh Rugby supporter is "feast or famine", long may the feast last :D
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Re: Edinburgh v Ospreys

Postby BigD163 on Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:11 pm

Another positive step in the right direction. If we keep making these steps and continue the progress then we'll be in a good place.

Crosbie looks a player.
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