Lions v Edinburgh 5/10/24
Alexithymia
When I sat down to write this column I really had no idea how to start. I don’t know how to feel about what has happened with Edinburgh so far this season. On one hand it’s straightforward. We are 0 from 2 and 12th in the table. Yet we always knew this was going to be a tough start and we have come away with 3 bonus points in the two games which is more than half the bonus points we got in the entirety of last season.
These points could be crucial in a season that could be tightest in the URC era yet.
There are some green shoots and some weeds. Our scrummaging has been excellent. However the lineout has regressed. We looked like our attack had improved against Leinster but it was one dimensional against Bulls. Long term injuries to Darcy Graham and Emiliano Boffelli were cleared up and then we were again afflicted by training field injuries that have hampered our team selections.
I’m content with the points we’ve gained in the light of the circumstances we’ve been handed but frustrated because we could have done so much better.
Hence the confusion.
Bulls were there for the taking. The game was a horrible watch with both sides mostly blundering their way through it but Bulls will not play that badly again this season so it’s definitely a chance passed up for a rare win in South Africa.
Anyway, we have to take the points from it and the Leinster game and move on. We can still put some gloss on this period and go some way to clearing that confusion with a win this weekend against Lions.
We have a played 3, lost 2 won 1 record against the Jo’burg based side. All 3 games have been close with the margins being 6, 3 and 1 point.
The one pointer was our win at home in October 2023 and you can see the highlights of that here. They are worth a quick look even if you just fast forward to see Ewan Ashman’s try on his debut off the bench.
Lions in their alternate guise of Golden Lions had an excellent Currie Cup this year. They topped the table in the regular season with a won 10, lost 2 record. They then went on to narrowly lose to Sharks 14-16 in the final.
The notable signing for Lions this season is loosehead Juan Schoeman who arrived from Bath. He is Pierre’s brother and was on the bench for Lions win against Ulster at the weekend.
They enjoyed scoring during The Currie Cup and with exception of the final they scored in excess of 38 points in their last 6 outings in the competition. They carried that scoring prowess into their game last week against Ulster at Loftus Versveld hitting them for 35 points.
In addition to Juan Schoeman who starts for Lions this week they also have listed Ruben Schoeman (not a relation to the other two) on the bench and Edwill van der Merwe who starts on the left wing. So that’s the prospect of 3 Schooeys and 2 Duhi’s on the pitch at the same time. A commentators nightmare.
Morne van den Berg Slots back in at 9 following his time away with the Springboks and is paired up with Kade Wolhuter at 10 who scored 15 points in their match against Ulster.
Their top try scorer in The Currie cup, with 10 touchdowns, was wing forward Renzo Du Plessis. He is on the bench.
Having listened to Tom English interview with Sean Everitt during the week I was anticipating changes to the team. He was specifically asked about the consequences for repeat offenders not playing as he wants and replied that, the consequences were, those failing to perform would not get to continue to wear the Edinburgh jersey.
I don’t know if that’s the case this week.
There have been three changes to the starting XV. Ewan Ashman comes in at hooker to replace the injured Dave Cherry with Patrick Harrison stepping onto the bench. Harri Morris, flew out to SA earlier in the week to ensure we had cover in this area. I saw him play for the A team on Friday past and he was one of the standouts along with the 6ft 11in Rob Carmichael and winger Lewis Wells.
There are no other changes in the forwards. A word on Paul Hill. I am now going to refer to him as Paul (King of the) Hill as he was outstanding last week and as a result I’ve already forgotten whose place he’s taken! Willie Bell or something!
Ben Vellacott and Ben Healy are in at halfback which I think may be half right. I base that opinion on seeing Ben Vellacott have a bit of tantrum 2 weeks ago in the Leinster game as Healy chose the crossfield kick option towards the end of the match. It’s not the first time i’ve seen it and despite the fact they started more than 10 games together last season I’m just not sure they are a natural blend.
The other change is also open to question. Mosese Tuipulotu is in the squad but on the bench and winger Ross McCann is starting at centre. If Mosese is fit why isn’t he starting? If he’s not fit why is he in the squad? We flew out a hooker, could we not have given him Cammy Scott for company on the flight?
If the story is that Mosese is not quite 100% it probably is better to keep him in reserve in the hope that he’ll not be needed after 8 minutes like McCann was last week. McCann is a Sevens specialist so you could argue that position is a pretty fluid concept for him.
It was the 30th anniversary of the release of the film, The Shawshank Redemption, this week and you may remember that towards the end of the film Andy Dufresne “crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness”.
It’s an allegory for re-birth that Edinburgh can take something from. We are currently going through a hard time. It’s no surprise but the pain will be worth it if we emerge from the pipe early by winning against Lions.
Incidentally if Edinburgh are Andy Dufresne then surely Munster are Captain Hadley.
PS. Alexithymia is explained as being a difficulty in identifying, describing and expressing emotions. Could there be a better trait for supporting Edinburgh Rugby?