The autumn internationals stand for us and that can only mean one thing. No, not the revival of hibernation of the tourists of the event who still wonder why Gray Laidlaw is not in the Scotland team, but the end of the first block of URC games and the chance to look back and see where we are on a large scale and think about how the rest could go.
In summary, played 7, won 4, lost 3 and we are fifth in the URC table. A few teams only played 6 games, but we would still be fifth. However, Sharks have only played 5 games and with 2 BP victories can be the 4th that pushed Edinburgh to the 6th.
Last year the international break was after 5 games and we had won 3, 1 drawn and lost 1. We were 4th.
Just on that statistics you could claim that we have deteriorated, but that would be to ignore the fact that it has been a much more difficult schedule. We played 3 games against the South African parties that appear to be a different proposition than the early season of last year you would like to believe. We lost away in Sa on both bulls and stormers before we also went to the dam to Leeuwen. 3 points of a potential 15, but that is our cross trips for the season for the season and we do not play sharks until the end of January.
Here has been from this point in recent years
We have scored 35 attempts so far. It was January of last season before we came to that total. Our point difference this year is +89.
Take a look at how we scored those points.
You can take that in a number of ways. What I see is a team that has received a discount to go for attempts and because a winger is our top scorer and our back 3 have scored almost half of our attempts between them, we don’t even get easy stairs with the goal.
Incidentally, only Leinster receives a smaller percentage of their points from penalties (7%).
Our two best kickers are Boffelli and Van der Walt. Boff was gone with Argentina for the first 3 games. Jaco started against Bulls but was wounded early doors, so the kick that we could have won, fell for Immelman, who was probably the 4th or 5th choice for that job. Even the battling percentage of BOFF for the tee is only 66% this season.
It can then be argued that this may have cost us points along the way, but to choose to kick a penalty, you have not tried it, so it’s hard to say for sure. Once you have made one choice, the other timeline will stop. Two roads diverging etc.
So spell it out. No team has scored more points or attempts than Edinburgh. No team has defeated more defenders or made more clean breaks than Edinburgh. Only Scarlets have made more meters and that didn’t do much good for them.
On the debit side, only Munster and Bulls have admitted more penalties.
We even did something that we have found quite difficult in the past. Win away from home and without our international players. This is a real change of sea and I think the enormous tribute brings to the players who have been performed without our stars. The will of Adam McBurney and Matt Currie and Chris Dean have taken the most out of the absence of Cherry, Bennett and long due to injury. It is also a compliment for Mike Blair when introducing quality non -bulkheads such as Wes Goosen and to ensure that everyone in the team in the team is invested by getting playing time. It even seems that only 3 players have not appeared at all this season.
There is competition everywhere in the team, but take a look at the wing players that we now have available as an example
Darcy Graham
Duhan van der Merwe
Emiliano Boffelli
West Goosen
Damien Hoyland
Jack Blain.
The whitewash did not cross that select couple only Jack Blain, but what a list and you would imagine that knowing these guys is your competition for a starting place, you should be on your courage. Darcy in particular seems to have thrown the glove at the rest of his colleague -wingers.
The margins between a successful first segment and an arm are very narrow. If we were lost from Cardiff, we may have only fallen, but we won 3, lost 4 sounds so much worse than won 4, lost 3 and in that scenario the tone of this piece might have been very different. So it is a cautious but optimistic thumbs of me.
Everyone knows that performance from the past is not an indicator for the future and what I think of how I think the rest of the season will come out is largely trained guesswork. With that provision, I think, despite the fact that this is an even more difficult competition than in 2021, Edinburgh can end in the top 4 and earn a home quarter final. We can finish in fewer points (57 in 2021), but I am convinced that we will beat that 7th place.
Press me for a definitive opinion and I would say we will be the 5th.
Even John Barclay supports us. Anyway to a certain extent.
If I was worried about making that prediction, it’s all about the fact that we had only lost once after 7 games in 2021. In 2021, the top 4 finishers had not lost more than 7 games at the end of the regular season. We also lost 7 games, but our smaller BP -to total was the difference between the 7th and 4th.
That is me, but what do some of my fellow -Embra supporters think about how it disappeared and how it could continue?
And Chris Veal sent me this as a DM-
I also performed a poll that came out in no time.
Trust for a home quarter is quite high, but in general almost no one thinks we will fall away completely. I take that and twice on Sunday.
Of course, 5th probably means a trip to the RDS, while the 4th means that it is a home band and that has infinite preference and profitable, regardless of who the opposition is.
Everything to play for.
I can’t wait for the return of the URC. If nothing else means moaning, grinding teeth and the endless Finn Russell -Chat will at least go on the rear burner until the 6 nations come by.
#good #assessment #early #season