Edinburgh Rugby FPs & Others

[The Feral Goat]

Apparently SHC's next stop is Exeter.

2yr deal, hope Baxter and co can get the best out of him.

[dolf_lundgren]

Interesting move for him, they have quite a few scrum halfs at the moment in the squad, can only assume there are a few leaving. White & Maunder are good players, then a lot of youngsters.

Say what you like about SHC but he is clearly rated by some good coaches and big clubs. For someone who hasn't got near to fulfilling their potential yet he already has a pretty impressive CV.

Good luck to him. He will be an asset for Scotland if he is on form and playing regularly.

[Tichtheid]

Interesting move for him, they have quite a few scrum halfs at the moment in the squad, can only assume there are a few leaving. White & Maunder are good players, then a lot of youngsters.

Say what you like about SHC but he is clearly rated by some good coaches and big clubs. For someone who hasn't got near to fulfilling their potential yet he already has a pretty impressive CV.

Good luck to him. He will be an asset for Scotland if he is on form and playing regularly.

Nic White is going back to Oz according to the story on the BBC.

I’d love to see him play to his potential down at Exeter, they have the pack to give him that advantage where he’ll split a defence in two.

[joe soap]

Say what you like about SHC but he is clearly rated by some good coaches and big clubs. For someone who hasn't got near to fulfilling their potential yet he already has a pretty impressive CV.

Good luck to him. He will be an asset for Scotland if he is on form and playing regularly.

I don't think anyone ever doubted he had ability, loads of it.

His CV covers a few clubs now, but looking at it as an employer, left Edinburgh with an over inflated value of himself with the world at his feet; contract torn up early at Scarlets; and a couple of short term deals which led nowhere. He has done well to get a gig for Exeter, very well - many an employer would be wary of that record. The upside is he won't be able to command - demand! -a huge salary off the back of it so gets interest.
Baxter has sorted a few careers out, making players better than they are - from Phil Dollman (I think his first signing in the premiership (a very average welsh guy who couldn't hold down a start for Dragons), to Nic White who was very poor in France by all accounts.
Reasons to be optimistic for SHC, down to him now

[Wottie]

If Rob Baxter can sort out his pass / distribution, I'll look forward to welcoming back to the national squad because the rest of his game is right up there. It's a great move for him and a 2 year deal is impressive but it's going to count for little if he doesn't get game time and ends up like he was at Scarlets. For me, I would have preferred to see him going somewhere where he can hold down a starting place, I'm sceptical that will happen at Exeter, the best side in the Premiership, as a "non-domestic" player.

[Tichtheid]

If Rob Baxter can sort out his pass / distribution, I'll look forward to welcoming back to the national squad because the rest of his game is right up there. It's a great move for him and a 2 year deal is impressive but it's going to count for little if he doesn't get game time and ends up like he was at Scarlets. For me, I would have preferred to see him going somewhere where he can hold down a starting place, I'm sceptical that will happen at Exeter, the best side in the Premiership, as a "non-domestic" player.

Yeah, not being England-qualified could hurt him even if he is playing really well, their first choice XV will include Hoggy, Skinner and Gray, just to begin with.

I can't remember the numbers offhand, but they have to average a certain percentage of EQ players over the season to qualify for the bung, sorry, payout from the RFU.

[liveinhope]

Happy for him.Amazing he's still only 26 so a real chance to get back in the national set-up if it works out.as previous poster indicates he'll need to impress to get a starting spot even with Nick White departing but given he's had significant game (a lot of it starting) time at Quins,Racing and Lyon does look as if he's turned a corner after oftenfailing to make the Scarlets 23.
(And seems to be forgotten that he's a very good placekicker!)

[biffer]

Happy for him.Amazing he's still only 26 so a real chance to get back in the national set-up if it works out.as previous poster indicates he'll need to impress to get a starting spot even with Nick White departing but given he's had significant game (a lot of it starting) time at Quins,Racing and Lyon does look as if he's turned a corner after oftenfailing to make the Scarlets 23.
(And seems to be forgotten that he's a very good placekicker!)

He's not had significant game time according to this

http://www.itsrugby.co.uk/player-24922.html

6 games for Racing and 6 for Lyon (3 starts from those). 6 games for Quins (3 starts) More at Scarlets when he was there - 16 games, 4 starts. Only 10 starts in 2 seasons, spread across 4 teams.

Good luck to him, see how he goes.

[doedin]

Hope he does well. He is a nice guy that just lost his way. Played against my son a few times when he was at Merchie and he was a talent then. Hopefully he has learnt his lessons and gets some good coaching and advice at Exeter and Hoggy sorts him out. Still got lots to offer.

[Friday Knight Lights]

https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/feature ... eig-tonks/

Good interview with Greig Tonks. Interesting his thoughts on young players not getting a look in at Edinburgh.

[robdinsdale]

https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/features/36610/my-life-in-rugby-former-scotland-leicester-edinburgh-and-london-irish-back-greig-tonks/

Good interview with Greig Tonks. Interesting his thoughts on young players not getting a look in at Edinburgh.

He wasn't wrong about Edinburgh at that time.

[dolf_lundgren]

Tyler Blayendaal has retired at 28.

Real shame, he wasn't a flash player but was neat and tidy. I thought he made a huge difference to Munster when he played, When he arrived they were floundering a bit but he brought a bit of control and structure back. From memory he has been unlucky with injuries and was injured when he arrived at Munster.

[The Feral Goat]

Interview with Marfo on rugbypass

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/if-you-a ... edinburgh/

[dolf_lundgren]

Interesting article and seems an honest guy.

he was a real enigma, when he arrived he looked ok, but not great, but then he just seemed to rise to challenges as they preseted themselves. What was most strange was his drop off back to where he was again of a decent, without sounding disparaging championship level prop.

In that autumn series through he was fantastic, held the scrum up but his carrying and jackaling was outstanding. Bhatti sadly followed a similar trajectory but not as stark, neither seem to have been able to get near the standard they were. Hopefully Cockers can get more out of Bhatti, but chances will be limited withprobably 2 of the best loosheads in the pro 12 ahead of him.

[robdinsdale]

Luke Hamilton has left Bristol after the end of his short-term deal. I'm sure he would add a decent bit of experience and depth to Glasgow, if they are actually signing players.