Edinburgh Vs. Toulouse Build up thread

[RuggerRadge2611]

First topic message reminder :

I'm going to do my best to keep the feet on the ground here, but I have just bought my Ticket and now I cannot wait for Saturday.

Let's face it, Scottish rugby is in need of a good pick up after the debacle of getting whitewashed in the 6N. The weekend just past kind of set the tone for me. Edinburgh played well and battled past a dogged Scarlets at Murrayfield and the Warriors thumped the Blues and Henson nearly got expelled from his flight home because he was intoxicated.

Now I'm looking forward to Edinburgh's most anticipated match in memory where we have the multiple HC winners Toulouse coming to the capital. Glaws showed the way on how to beat Toulouse in the pool stages, get in their faces and stifle their attacking style of rugby. By the end of the match Glouceseter had run them ragged and closed the game out.

Very similar to what Edinburgh did to London Irish and Racing Metro in the pool stages of the tournament.

Always known for it's sensationalist journalism the Hootsman has chipped in with an article about the French giants "fearing" Denton.

Toulouse admit fears over Dave Denton
By BILL LOTHIAN
Published on Monday 2 April 2012 12:00

DAVE DENTON has emerged as the player Toulouse are most keen to contain when visiting Edinburgh Rugby for Saturday’s Heineken European Cup quarter-final.



The form of the 22-year-old Test back rower was rewarded with man-of-the-match honours as Edinburgh won 26-23 at home to Scarlets at the weekend.

But opposite number Louis Picamoles, capped 21 times by France, was already wary, insisting: “Edinburgh have a lot of young and talented players and play offensive style of rugby with very good consistency.

“Denton is a fine young player and next week will be as difficult as the (recent) France game (a 23-17 win) at Murrayfield. It will be tough, but it is also going to be hugely exciting.”

Picamoles missed Toulouse’s latest fixture, a 22-18 win at Stade Francais to stay top of the French League.

But France prop Jean-Baptise Poux turned out and looked ahead to the Edinburgh clash by insisting it was a major obstacle on the road to the club’s fifth Heineken Cup.

Poux, himself a three time-winner, said: “Edinburgh have the ability to keep the ball and play through a lot of phases. They play attacking rugby and are capable of beating anyone.

“We saw that during the French game against Scotland in the Six Nations. We could have lost.

“I watched several of Edinburgh’s games during the Pool stages. Against Racing Metro they showed a lot of power and, when the Racing players were exhausted, they scored at the last minute to win the game – they are a dangerous team.”

I seriously doubt Toulouse will fear any of our guys but they will be astute enough to pick out the danger players ala Denton. For me the backrow will be critical for this game, and whoever dominates the breakdown will win the game. If Edinburgh can get the quick ball they thrive off I think running Toulouse of the park is a disticnt possibility.

More positive news when I found out that Edinburgh have a chance to set the record attendence for HC UK pool record. 30000 have been sold so far and as far as I am aware the SRU/Edinburgh Rugby are getting lots of publicity on local radio and with Students Unions/ Pubs / Resturants and local advertising to try and break the 37000 that attended the Cardiff Vs. Tolouse game at the Millenium Stadium.

A fantastic achievement for a country with apparently no interest in Rugby. If We get the win against Toulouse and do it with some style I would bet heavily some of those guys will be back.

So this result is not just important for Edinburgh but also for Scottish rugby as a whole in trying to raise the profile of the game. With Glasgow doing so well in the pro12 who knows, maybe after the disapointment of the 6N we are turning the corner?

Anyway as I said I'll try to keep my feet on the ground with this (NO PROMISES) one but I believe we can win this game.

C'mon the Burgh

Black & Red army

[justified sinner]

Gunners, Gunners.

Great game - Dublin here I come.

[glamorganalun]

Well done great result, not bad for a weak league.

[IanBru]

It's the Heineken Cup, anything can happen. Yes they can win it - take it one match at a time - but should the next 3 matches go with form they will rightly be the outside bet.

Totally true, but it's fair to say that in all but one of their Heineken Cups games this year ( the game against London Irish at Murrayfield excepted), Edinburgh have been the outside bet. They've won 6 from 7 so far.

Edinburgh are not the best team in the tournament, but they are a classic cup team - able to grind out one-off results against teams they should get tanked by.

[Pot Hale]

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy to the full. Well deserved.

[RDW]

Definitely going to Dublin!! Will it be there if ulster win?

[TJ1]

Hate to say it here ... but *surely* this shows how rubbish AR is?!?!?!

Yup. Of course it does.

[RuggerRadge2611]

?hat a win! Can't believe how well we shut down Toulouse offence! Great win!

[maestegmafia]

Wonderful...!

[IanBru]

Do you get that feeling where you're not sure what you've just seen?

I still don't believe Edinburgh won today. I mean, they couldn't have, surely?

[R!skysports]

Wow. was having the last few.minuye itch all scots.fans.know. the time.where we throw.it away at the last. great win fantastic result and well deserved

[IanBru]

Interesting question (well, you be the judge...):

As Scotland are allocated two HC spots, but only have two professional teams, if Edinburgh win the Cup in May, who will be allocated the third spot?
- Melrose for winning the RBS Premier 1 Championship?
- Ayr or Gala for winning the RBS National Cup?
- A specially created Club Select team?

Presumably the SRU will make a decision after a well thought out process in which all parties are consulted and where the best outcome is reached, to the satisfaction of the players, clubs and supporters.

(Yes, I have been drinking.)

[HERSH]

Well done Edinburgh, great result for British rugby

[doctor_grey]

(Yes, I have been drinking.)

You deserve every darned drop, mate.
And have some on me!
Great stuff.

[justified sinner]

Right just got home. Time for a nice malt. Then figure out how to get to Dublin

[GLove39]

Just back from Edinburgh and I am delighted
first ever Heineken Cup game, and what a game!
Crowd was amazing, great to smash the UK record (for HCup QF) all in all, a great day out.

[Majestic83]

Brilliant win today, the atmosphere inside murrayfield was amazing today. Best atmosphere I have experienced in many a year there. Can't wait for the semi final now.

[TJ1]

who was man of the match?

[RDW]

Laidlaw - who else!

[albaook]

Woken up wondering if I just dreamed that....

Well done to Edinburgh (forwards were immense), made Toulouse look ordinary on the day.

Great crowd, standing pitch side is fantastic, always been seated before.

Brought three guys who had never been to see Edinburgh before to the match, I'm hoping I've got a couple of converts for a few Friday nights!

I won't make Dublin, but best of luck to the guys in the semi!

[RuggerRadge2611]

What a fantastic day / night. Can't believe how well we played yesterday. I also can't believe how sore my head is!

[justified sinner]

My head hurts, I can't speak and now I've got to go to the pub to watch Munster Ulster. Sometimes I hate rugby.

[Biltong]

yeah well it is a tough life, but someone has to live it. So suck it up and carry on regardless.

[boomeranga]

Congratulations Edinburgh fans. That's a big win.

[TJ1]

So another question for the 66v2 oracles - why is the Edinburgh mascot called flinty McStagg?

[George Carlin]

Edinburgh v Ulster - who'd have thought that would be a Heineken semi-final?

Ulster would have to be favourites (beaten Reekie twice in the Robocop already this season) but on the back of a performance like this for Edinburgh - who knows?

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

It just shows with decent coaching and tactics what can be achieved (Embra and the Warriors in the Rabo) - unlike with the dim-witted duo at Scotland.
Would like to compliment the SRU (honestly) for the pre match party - us Weegie 80s rockers had a great time as Schtick of Rock really rocked the place. Atmos in the Raeburn afterwards was excellent (as was the 80/-).
Well done Edinburgh and in particular Grieg Laidlaw who was terrific as were the forwards. A great day out !

[Imperialbigdave]

well slap me silly, whod have thought this at the start of the season.

Exams not till a week later so ill be heading to dublin, only thing is it would be good to have the embra supporters all close together, so not sure where to get a ticket for.

[RDW]

Go to the edinburgh Facebook or Twitter page and they've put a link up. It's through the sru e ticket site so hopefully the edinburgh fans are together!

[funnyExiledScot]

Smashing result! Just watched it on delay (recorded it).

Laidlaw is just awesome. I know a lot of people think he's really a stand-in at 10, and will ultimately be a 9 at international level, but perhaps that general view needs a rethink. Tactically he was very good indeed. The best Scottish club 10 performance for a very long time.

Thought Scott was very good at 12 as well, and the general pack work ethic was extremely good.

Ulster in Dublin will be a step up, they will not play as poorly as Toulouse, but they are by no means unbeatable.

[R!skysports]

Smashing result! Just watched it on delay (recorded it).

Laidlaw is just awesome. I know a lot of people think he's really a stand-in at 10, and will ultimately be a 9 at international level, but perhaps that general view needs a rethink. Tactically he was very good indeed. The best Scottish club 10 performance for a very long time.

Thought Scott was very good at 12 as well, and the general pack work ethic was extremely good.

Ulster in Dublin will be a step up, they will not play as poorly as Toulouse, but they are by no means unbeatable.

That may be so, but he is still being targetted by runners and still getting steam rolled (happend again). I know 10 is not the biggest tackling position, but he does need to work on that quite a bit - otherwise is a big weakness for us and means we need a 'morrison' type to cover him

[funnyExiledScot]

True, it's a weakness, but ultimately we just have to weigh up the pros and cons of the various options. His performance on Saturday puts him ahead of Weir and Jackson at the moment, surely hard to dispute that. We've wanted a playmaker at 10 for so long, it seems silly to rule out Laidlaw as a 10 because he can be exposed in the tackle. For a while now we've had backs who can pretty much tackle and do nothing else.

[RDW]

I just think his technique needs improving. He never shies away from a tackle, just goes too high.

If he snaps them round the ankles, although they may be able to offload, at least he gets them down.

[RuggerRadge2611]

Everyone seems to be concerned about Laidlaw's defence but we only leaked 1 try in the game against Toulouse. Incredible when considering we were down to 13 players for 8 minutes.

Lee Jones, Matt Scott and NDL truly laid waste to pretty much every big strike runner that came at them on Saturday.

Jones in particular made some thunderous hits. His clash with Trimble in the 6N I think must have given him a bit of a wake up call and his defence has improved hugely since then.

[R!skysports]

No, not saying that he should be excluded, just an area that he needs to work on to be even better.

He is the best we have and a good 10 - lets hope that Weir and Jackson take up the challenge and push their preformance and all 3 earn the right to play - could be a good position

Oh - Forgot AR still in charge - so well done Jackson on nailing down that spot

[RuggerRadge2611]

So this result is not just important for Edinburgh but also for Scottish rugby as a whole in trying to raise the profile of the game. With Glasgow doing so well in the pro12 who knows, maybe after the disapointment of the 6N we are turning the corner?

Well going back to my initial post, what kind of Impact do we think this game has/will have on Scottish rugby and the profile of the game? Leaving the money out of it since there is another thread discussing that aspect of the weekend, will that game have made a few fans of pro rugby in Scotland?

[RDW]

I'd like to think the crowds will be big at the start of next season - especially with these new signings.

I therefore think it is vital that we qualify again next year to build momentum. If we have a rubbish group stage and only pull off a win or two then all that good feeling will be lost.

[RDW]

There are reports this morning that the ERC are investigating an altercation that allegedly occurred between the pitch side standing fans and the Toulouse bench - can anyone pass comment on this?

I really hope it is a mountains and molehills scenario, but slightly worrying all the same. Especially since the pitch side standing has been one of the best things the SRU has ever implemented!

[AsLongAsBut100ofUs]

There are reports this morning that the ERC are investigating an altercation that allegedly occurred between the pitch side standing fans and the Toulouse bench - can anyone pass comment on this?

I really hope it is a mountains and molehills scenario, but slightly worrying all the same. Especially since the pitch side standing has been one of the best things the SRU has ever implemented!

RDW, I'm hearing on other sites that there may have been a few unfavourable comments from Embra 'fans' (using the term loosely) directed at Toulouse staff and players regarding French performance in WWII

[RDW]

That's not good to hear. Will be such a shame if such a positive day will be ruined by a few idiots. Fairly random choice of insult too...

[eirebilly]

I really hope that is not the case AsBo. Not that it would dampen the win but it would leave a slight sour taste in the mouth.

[AsLongAsBut100ofUs]

That's not good to hear. Will be such a shame if such a positive day will be ruined by a few idiots. Fairly random choice of insult too...

Not that random, I've heard 'surrender' and 'retreat' many times before, may even have yelled it myself on one occasion during a game - anyway, I think the timing of it after the final whistle simply added to the poor taste, and if it was nothing more than that, then it is a storm in a t-cup

[RuggerRadge2611]

I'm not entirely convinced there is much to this, if it was a silly wee dig about the war, it shouldn't have been said, but it does sound like a mountain out of a mole hill.

I just hope none of the Toulouse players ever watch Top Gear, they make regular comments about the war and seem to only get their knuckles rapped.

I have never heard any abuse from Edinburgh fans or anything at any of the games I have been to.

[RDW]

Yeah, as much as you don't want your own fans to be shouting things at the home bench, at the end of the day if that is all that it was then it doesn't sound a massive issue compared to what I feared it might have been. At least there was nothing thrown at them or anyone attacked or something like that!

[funnyExiledScot]

If this is about some abuse being shouted by fans at the opposition, then for heavens sake stop the press!!

It's all part of rugby banter, and I'm sure the French players would not have reacted had they not been losing to massive underdogs.

Playing away from home means a hostile atmosphere, whoever is moaning should just get over it. It may not be in the best of tastes, and of course there are lines you don't cross (as noted above, throwing items etc.), but heckling opponents, whether it be their wastelines, colour of boots, recent stories in the press, are all part and parcel of it. Like it or not.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Anyone been to Toulouse - jesus that is a hostile place for rugby !

[funnyExiledScot]

In particular for the Toulouse players if they don't play well!!

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