Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby doedin on Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:24 pm

I like Bryce too and would be happy to see him remain with us.

Graham is small but its a squad game and he will be picked for games when the gameplan and the opposition suit. A rainy day on a tight heavy pitch against a team with a 6'4' big SH beast might not the the best option but a dry day at Murrayfield against an average winger then he will be picked and he will score tries! Might also see him and Kinghorn playing together and swapping positions when defending?

Damain McKenzie - All Black - 1m75 and 81kgs.
Darcy Graham - Edinburgh - 1m76 and 75kg

I suspect after his first full pro season and a bit more growing Graham will end up around the same weight.
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby Pitfitter on Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:33 pm

As with everything in life, horses for courses, we need a wide and varied squad.
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby Tichtheid on Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:16 pm

Pic on the Embra site showing Ross Ford back in what looks like full training.

Hopefully the squad will be in good shape for the run in.
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby dunna on Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:39 pm

Hardie away at the end of the season.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... -1-4704472
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby Tichtheid on Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:42 pm

dunna wrote:Hardie away at the end of the season.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... -1-4704472



I'd have preferred that he stayed, he is a quality player.

I hope he gets a good deal elsewhere (not Pro 14!) and continues to press for the Scotland shirt.
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby dunna on Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:48 pm

Tichtheid wrote:
dunna wrote:Hardie away at the end of the season.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... -1-4704472



I'd have preferred that he stayed, he is a quality player.

I hope he gets a good deal elsewhere (not Pro 14!) and continues to press for the Scotland shirt.


Interesting Cockerill says about balancing funds in the squad. Read on ruck that Newcastle, Bristol and Worcester are potential clubs for Hardie.
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby Tichtheid on Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:13 pm

dunna wrote:
Tichtheid wrote:
Interesting Cockerill says about balancing funds in the squad. Read on ruck that Newcastle, Bristol and Worcester are potential clubs for Hardie.



I like Newcastle, I hope he goes there.

I agree with you on what Cockerill says, he is not only an astute coach, he knows how to sell bad news. There are valid points in what he says though, even if Hardie leaving is a bad outcome for us.
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby Friday Knight Lights on Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:23 am

Really could see him back in NZ. Which would be a shame for Scotland but I can't see Toonie taking 2 7s to Japan with Barclay too. Matt Fagerson can do a job there as well.

Seems Duncan Weir is training with us? Thought he was off?
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby dolf_lundgren on Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:00 am

Sad to see him go but cockerill is right.

Can't see him going back to NZ, he will easily earn double in France or England, depends if he is settled though. Tremendous player who adds to us with intensity.

I can see GT wanting him in Japan, our game plan at the moment revolves around a fast pace and being first to breakdowns, he covers for both Barclay and Watson. RWC isn't really about giving youngsters a chance it's picking the best quality possible and at the moment he is well ahead of the next crop. Still a season so go though so may change.

I was thinking the other day about the way England approach the breakdown and the interpretation of laws in the AP. If you look at the players who have moved from Scotland they have gone for the likes of Denton and Strauss but very little interest in Watson or Hardie, so it shows what they'd value. I'm glad we have Barclay signed up as he has attracted a lot of attention in the last month and may have been out of our Price range now.
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby The Feral Goat on Tue Mar 13, 2018 10:23 am

Very good player, but how many games has he actually played for Edinburgh over what will be the 3 seasons he has been here, 25 maybe 30? Appreciate he has been away with Scotland a fair bit but the likes of Kinghorn must have played almost twice as much in the same time frame.

Would be a luxury to have kept him.

I notice Cockerill is including Carmichael (but not Miller) among the list of remaining backrow players, I know both he and Mata can play second row but are we a bit thin on the ground there with only Gilchrist, Toolis, McKenzie, CHH?

“It is getting value out of our budget. We have guys like Jamie Ritchie and Luke Crosbie coming through both can play seven and are doing well. Hamish (Watson) is first choice for Scotland. Add in John Barclay who can play along the back row, (Viliame) Matta, (Magnus) Bradbury, (Lewis) Carmichael, there are a lot of good back row players.
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby Frenchy on Tue Mar 13, 2018 4:21 pm

The Feral Goat wrote:Very good player, but how many games has he actually played for Edinburgh over what will be the 3 seasons he has been here, 25 maybe 30? Appreciate he has been away with Scotland a fair bit but the likes of Kinghorn must have played almost twice as much in the same time frame.


16 league starts, 6 appearances off the bench.
6 European starts, none off the bench.
So 28 games in total for Edinburgh.

16 caps for Scotland in the same time.
44 games over three (2.5, really) seasons is pretty good, really, isn't it?
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby The Feral Goat on Tue Mar 13, 2018 6:28 pm

Frenchy wrote:
The Feral Goat wrote:Very good player, but how many games has he actually played for Edinburgh over what will be the 3 seasons he has been here, 25 maybe 30? Appreciate he has been away with Scotland a fair bit but the likes of Kinghorn must have played almost twice as much in the same time frame.


16 league starts, 6 appearances off the bench.
6 European starts, none off the bench.
So 28 games in total for Edinburgh.

16 caps for Scotland in the same time.
44 games over three (2.5, really) seasons is pretty good, really, isn't it?


Possibly I don't know, feels like he has not played a huge amount for ER but maybe that is similar to other internationals would need to look at what watson played over the same period or gray for Glasgow. Perhaps I am just recalling unfavourably.
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby royc on Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:02 pm

A real shame that Hardie is moving on, he is a top openside and will be a definite loss to the squad. The one positive for him is that he should at least earn a decent sum anywhere else.

With him away and Watson likely with Scotland for near-on half the season, we won't have a specialist 7 on the books for a good chunk of the season. Sure, Ritchie and Bradbury and so on can do passable impressions at 7 - but they ain't 7s. The 7 doesn't just defend around the set-piece and breakdown and carry up, any blindside flanker can do that. They are also off down the line fetching and foraging, targeting the oppo 10, tackling and carrying in the three-quarters line and popping up wherever the action is, basically they are the the fittest and fastest forward because they need to be. Hence rarity and value of Hardie and Watson.

I understand that this is primarily a financial move, money needs to be saved in the pack in order to fund the upgrade to the backs, which is a correct and overdue decision. It is hard on a small and I'd think shrinking budget though, where every small, incremental improvement to the backs has to be matched by sacrifices in the forwards, or vice versa.

I wonder how Tom Gordon is doing in the Academy? He's a 7, playing well for Currie reportedly. He's in Year 2, when you normally get a promotion if you're thought good enough. I've seen on here a comment that he might be too small, he's actually just about the same size as Hardie. I wonder if there's any chance of him stepping up?
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby germain on Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:30 pm

Burleigh, Hidalgo-Clyne, Du Preez, Hardie, Tovey, Cochrane (probably) are leaving... That's a massive reshaping of the whole squad.

1- Dickinson, Dell, Marfo, Sutherland
2- McInally, Ford, Fenton, Cherry
3- Nel, Berghan, McCallum
4/5- Toolis, Gilchrist, McKenzie, Carmichael, Hunter-Hill
6- Barclay, Crosbie
7- Watson, Ritchie
8- Bradbury, Mata, Miller
9- Kennedy, Fowles, Shiel
10- Hickey, VDW, Baggott, McLelland
12/13- Bennett, Scott, Dean, Johnstone, Socino
11/14- Brown, Hoyland, VDM, Fife, Graham
15- Kinghorn

41 players. Cockerill talked of a couple of props yet to come. I can see the need of an other tightheadprop but then ? Would it mean Dicko is retiring ? I can see an other back-three signing but apart that I feel we're quite alright.

I know Cockerill metionned Carmichael as a potential back-row cover but I expect him to be used at lock where he's been good when he's been anonymous at 6. Maybe he hasn't spoke of Miller because he did not break through yet. Or maybe because he won't be kept. We'll know it soon enough.
Last edited by germain on Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Edinburgh Rugby Squad 2018/19

Postby joe soap on Tue Mar 13, 2018 11:41 pm

germain wrote:41 players.


aye, not 40. 41. And more to come. Fancy that.
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