1872 Cup Champions

[Big D]

Ok fair enough. Showed, I'm sure he tackled 2 people at one point, both successfully.

Agreed on Graham. People have used his size as an excuse before but he's solid as well as rapid.

I read that on the Edinburgh forum so take with a pinch of salt but sounds feasible.

[OptimisticJock]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cf1b ... 8178fed2f6

Decent article on MacRae

[Big D]

The Edinburgh 23 was named. It is exactly the 23 you'd expect.

[switchskier]

The Edinburgh 23 was named. It is exactly the 23 you'd expect.

Toloun team doesn't quite suggest that they're throwing the match buy I recognise very little of that bench. Gorgodze at 23 would be fun, imagine him coming on at full back.

15 M. Smaili, 14 J. Pietersen, 13 M. Bastareaud, 12 F. Trinh-Duc, 11 J. Savea, 10 A.Belleau, 9 R. Webb

1 J. Gros, 2 G.Guirado, 3 E. Setiano, 4 J. Kruger, 5 R. Taofifenua, 6 S. Onambele Mbarga 7 F. Isa 8 R. Lakafia

16 A. Etrillard, 17 X. Chiocci, 18 M. Van Der Merwe, 19 J. Monribot, 20 L. Carbonel, 21 A. Zeghdar, 22 Y. Cottin,
23 M. Gorgodze

[Adder]

The Edinburgh 23 was named. It is exactly the 23 you'd expect.

Toloun team doesn't quite suggest that they're throwing the match buy I recognise very little of that bench. Gorgodze at 23 would be fun, imagine him coming on at full back.

15 M. Smaili, 14 J. Pietersen, 13 M. Bastareaud, 12 F. Trinh-Duc, 11 J. Savea, 10 A.Belleau, 9 R. Webb

1 J. Gros, 2 G.Guirado, 3 E. Setiano, 4 J. Kruger, 5 R. Taofifenua, 6 S. Onambele Mbarga 7 F. Isa 8 R. Lakafia

16 A. Etrillard, 17 X. Chiocci, 18 M. Van Der Merwe, 19 J. Monribot, 20 L. Carbonel, 21 A. Zeghdar, 22 Y. Cottin,
23 M. Gorgodze

Toulon desperately need to win games. Carbonel is the French under 20 world champion. A very good prospect.


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[switchskier]

So with Montpellier beating Newcastle we can win the pool regardless of the result today. However if we want a home quarter we need to win today (and can still easily not qualify).

[OptimisticJock]

A Bp win today leaves a bit of breathing room next weekend meaning a lbp might be enough (if they don't concede 4 tries).

[ARM]

Nice finish from Graham.

Shame about the ‘Scottish’ handling.

[AL.]

Woah!

[ARM]

That’s one of the best offloads I’ve seen in a long time from Mata - try Johnstone.

Embra could get a TBP here.

[mcshinnertheligind]

Costing me 130 quid but feckin fair play

[AL.]

That was well done, without playing particularly well in the process...nice.

[Big D]

If that ball had popped up for VdM off of the VdW break it would have been sensational.

Very decent performance. I don't see many reasons why Graham should not be starting v Italy.

[General Zod]

If that ball had popped up for VdM off of the VdW break it would have been sensational.

Very decent performance. I don't see many reasons why Graham should not be starting v Italy.

Agree. Over to you tomorrow, Tommy!

[switchskier]

Great result and a good performance (not sensational). Love the fact that we're developing into a really professional big game outfit. Also liked the fact that cockers didn't feel the need to go for premeditated substitutions, thought that McKenzie added something when he came on.

[Tigersman]

Bugger, not keen on this appointment at all. Cockerill ultimately took Leicester backwards, signed a whole load of poor quality southern hemisphere journeymen and spent most of the past few seasons complaining about just about everything. The Leicester academy has gone from being the core of their club to pushing talented players out of the door.

I am not sure it is as clear cut at that. After slagging the suggestion of RC at the start I have had a wee look. Leicester may have gone backwards but they are still up 'til this season a club that has finished top 4 every year RC has been in charge and regularly got out of the ECC group stages. Aaron Mauger seems to have escaped a lot of the blame for this seasons mess. Interestingly it was RC who realised something was needing to change before Mauger came in and it was RC who recruited him and realised there was a potential difference in philosophy but welcomed it. I like that, he identified an issue and tried to deal with it. He got it wrong thinking they could work together effectively but he wasn't blind to the situation.

What isn't clear is how much of an input did RC have in the academy. At a fans night, their Rugby Operations Head Ged Glynn gave a talk where he spoke about regrets he had when he let Perry Humphreys, Alex Lewington and Henry Purdy go over the last few years. Glynn also said Fonua was his signing so RC didn't have responsibility for all signings either. Other than Ford are there that many Leicester academy graduates playing at a high level elsewhere?

The clubs with sugar daddy's are also flashing the cash which the Tigers can't compete with for Marquee players (the Bath guy driving for a 2nd Marquee player, Wasps spending plenty of money, Bristol paying Luatua 600k etc.). Leicester are a PLC and run like one. But even allowing for that RC has to take plenty of the blame for recruitment and also the fact that things clearly got stale and he was clearly too loyal to Croft and Manu for example.

All of that being said. He is not being asked nor expected to win competitions as a primary objective, he wont have final say on transfers (that is Johnsons role), and he wont have time to be too loyal to anyone. He is being asked to get a team that is 10th best in the league to improve, probably to a point for someone else to take over in 2 years. He has the mindset that if the players buy in to his way of thinking there should be a sharp improvement fairly quickly. It could do some of the young players a lot of good.

Given the size of the club Leicester should be top four and competitive in Europe at a minimum. Salary cap means that they should be competitive and doesn't explain their constant habit of picking up mediocre players. It also has nothing to do with the way he constantly complains about referees and officials when his team loses which Edinburgh really don't need.

Sorry, am as underwhelmed by this as by the hiring of Solomon's.

[Big D]

I am not sure it is as clear cut at that. After slagging the suggestion of RC at the start I have had a wee look. Leicester may have gone backwards but they are still up 'til this season a club that has finished top 4 every year RC has been in charge and regularly got out of the ECC group stages. Aaron Mauger seems to have escaped a lot of the blame for this seasons mess. Interestingly it was RC who realised something was needing to change before Mauger came in and it was RC who recruited him and realised there was a potential difference in philosophy but welcomed it. I like that, he identified an issue and tried to deal with it. He got it wrong thinking they could work together effectively but he wasn't blind to the situation.

What isn't clear is how much of an input did RC have in the academy. At a fans night, their Rugby Operations Head Ged Glynn gave a talk where he spoke about regrets he had when he let Perry Humphreys, Alex Lewington and Henry Purdy go over the last few years. Glynn also said Fonua was his signing so RC didn't have responsibility for all signings either. Other than Ford are there that many Leicester academy graduates playing at a high level elsewhere?

The clubs with sugar daddy's are also flashing the cash which the Tigers can't compete with for Marquee players (the Bath guy driving for a 2nd Marquee player, Wasps spending plenty of money, Bristol paying Luatua 600k etc.). Leicester are a PLC and run like one. But even allowing for that RC has to take plenty of the blame for recruitment and also the fact that things clearly got stale and he was clearly too loyal to Croft and Manu for example.

All of that being said. He is not being asked nor expected to win competitions as a primary objective, he wont have final say on transfers (that is Johnsons role), and he wont have time to be too loyal to anyone. He is being asked to get a team that is 10th best in the league to improve, probably to a point for someone else to take over in 2 years. He has the mindset that if the players buy in to his way of thinking there should be a sharp improvement fairly quickly. It could do some of the young players a lot of good.

Given the size of the club Leicester should be top four and competitive in Europe at a minimum. Salary cap means that they should be competitive and doesn't explain their constant habit of picking up mediocre players. It also has nothing to do with the way he constantly complains about referees and officials when his team loses which Edinburgh really don't need.

Sorry, am as underwhelmed by this as by the hiring of Solomon's.

Ignore the rest of my post but I'm taking " He has the mindset that if the players buy in to his way of thinking there should be a sharp improvement fairly quickly. It could do some of the young players a lot of good." As a win!

Switch can defend himself.

[switchskier]

Given the size of the club Leicester should be top four and competitive in Europe at a minimum. Salary cap means that they should be competitive and doesn't explain their constant habit of picking up mediocre players. It also has nothing to do with the way he constantly complains about referees and officials when his team loses which Edinburgh really don't need.

Sorry, am as underwhelmed by this as by the hiring of Solomon's.

Ignore the rest of my post but I'm taking " He has the mindset that if the players buy in to his way of thinking there should be a sharp improvement fairly quickly. It could do some of the young players a lot of good." As a win!

Switch can defend himself.

Hold my hands up, I got it wrong. Cockerel has brought attitude and professionalism that was evidently needed. Here's hoping he can continue the rate of improvement (though he still complains too much about refs for my taste).

Thevway things have gone at Leicester this season have shown that there are evidently more deep seated issues there. Still think they should be nailed on top four with their resources.

[BlackCat1978]

Legitimately, Edinburgh are currently the best side in Scotland, and probably in the top 4-6 in GB&I. We know the pack is amazing, but aside from 9, our backs have developed into a really exciting bunch. Great for Scottish rugby, and kudos to RC!

[BlackCat1978]

As an aside, I don't think anyone tackled Bastereau more than Graham (perhaps Johnston), and is already miles better than bigger players (Visser?) in defence. He's great all round

[OptimisticJock]

I'd never have thought I'd be gutted to see them miss out on a try bp in Toulon. Despite that I'm still buzzing (probably the gin mind) about that result.

[General Zod]

I'd never have thought I'd be gutted to see them miss out on a try bp in Toulon. Despite that I'm still buzzing (probably the gin mind) about that result.

Am surprised how they closed the game out. At 80 minutes and more than 7 points up, I thought they might have thrown caution to the wind with a chip and chase from the centre or whatever and seen what happened. Nevertheless, a very good performance and one of the best results for Scottish teams in the pro era. Now to better it next week..!

[Chunks Baws]

I've lost count of how many times I've watched that offload and Graham's try. I can't wait for next Friday now. Hopefully we get a huge crowd.

[Mikey Brown]

Where can I see those? Highlights aren’t usually up on Guinness pro 14 thing for a few days?

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Where can I see those? Highlights aren’t usually up on Guinness pro 14 thing for a few days?

Cause it's not a bloody pro 14 game!

https://www.epcrugby.com/video/highligh ... edinburgh/