Edinburgh sign Georgian number 8

Dimitri Basilaia

Another new signing for Edinburgh, and he looks to be a decent one too. Rampaging, ball carrying, aggressive, hard as nails Georgian that was part of a beast of a pack in the world cup. Scored against England too from the base of a scrum.

Very good signing by the look of things, but hope this doesn't mean that Talei is on his way out.

Anyone seen this guy play and able to comment?

I must confess I am at a loss and know nothing about the guy.

I hope Talei is not leaving but if this guy is coming in is the writing on the wall?

I would have thought that, but when you think that when Denton is away there'd only be Rambo and Basilaia for 6 and 8 reallly (Grant isn't a 6, or 8) we'd actually end up being short in the backrow if Talei did leave.

So hopefully he's staying???

I like Bradley's signings, they have been fairly cheap players to get but have made a massive differenc. Talei and Cox were almost journeymen players in the AP but have made a huge difference to Edinburgh this year.

Throw in the wrecking ball that is WP Nel and I'm pretty happy! If we get a 2nd row...

Desparate need for either Turnbull to fulfill his potential or a big second row imo

I'm not blown away by this signing. Assuming Talei stays, it means Edinburgh will have 4 specialist number 8's next season.

Clearly Denton is going to continue to be used at 6. Not the end of the world, but I do prefer him at 8.

Loosehead and second row are the real problem positions, plus I think Edinburgh are also short at wing.

Some guy on the Edinburgh Facebook page reckons Talei has another year left, which is good news.

I think it is a good move, as long as we also get at least one other 2nd row and a winger as mentioned above.

Covering 6 and 8 we have Denton, Talei, Georgian guy, Rambo, ......not really anyone else.

Therefore all it takes is one of them to get injured/international call ups and we'd be pretty lightweight in the backrow and end up having to field 3 opensides again

So I like this signing, but only with the caveat that we also get another 2nd row and winger!

RDW_Scotland wrote:Some guy on the Edinburgh Facebook page reckons Talei has another year left, which is good news.

I think it is a good move, as long as we also get at least one other 2nd row and a winger as mentioned above.

Covering 6 and 8 we have Denton, Talei, Georgian guy, Rambo, ......not really anyone else.

Therefore all it takes is one of them to get injured/international call ups and we'd be pretty lightweight in the backrow and end up having to field 3 opensides again

So I like this signing, but only with the caveat that we also get another 2nd row and winger!

Talei signed for 3 years back in 2010: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/edinburgh/8714623.stm

Excellent, so looks like we've got him for another year, which is good news.

As long as Denton is still first choice - at 8 or 6 - and Rambo doesn't get relegated to the scrap heap, I'm quite happy to have a barnstorming Fijian and a mental Georgian in our squad!

I take your point, but I'd have thought a specialist 6 would have been a better signing, given that Edinburgh don't really have one of those.

Loosehead is surely the biggest worry. Chunk is ageing and behind him there is Traynor, a prop regularly defeated by an unmanned scrummaging machine. A big ball carrying islander at 1 would be a welcome addition.

The lock situation is annoying, because there are the resources in Scotland to deal with this. Glasgow have Kellock, Ryder, Swinson, Campbell, Gray (jnr) and McAlpine next season, that's 6. Edinburgh have Gilchrist, Turnbull and Cox (assuming Lozada leaves), that's 3.

The obvious move is to take one or two from Glasgow (I'd suggest McAlpine would be a good candidate given his U20 partnership with Gilchrist, and possibly Campbell as well). Clearly Kellock, Ryder and Swinson will be the main players at Glasgow next season, and Harley provides cover if needed, so opportunities may be limited for Campbell, Gray and McAlpine, unlike at Edinburgh, where an injury to Gilchrist or Cox leaves them horribly short.

funnyExiledScot wrote:I'm not blown away by this signing. Assuming Talei stays, it means Edinburgh will have 4 specialist number 8's next season.

Clearly Denton is going to continue to be used at 6. Not the end of the world, but I do prefer him at 8.

Loosehead and second row are the real problem positions, plus I think Edinburgh are also short at wing.

I wouldn't have thought of Talei as a specialist 8 to be honest, and he has played very well as a 6 for Fiji. Why couldn't Edinburgh do the same and play Talei/Rennie as the flankers, with Denton at 8? I think that would suit all their strengths much more.

To solve the wing solution they should ask Talei who the fastest up and coming Fijian is, and to give him a call before the All Blacks steal him.

Could also try to get Venditti from Aironi, decent player that.

Otherwise I guess Jim Fleming is an obvious choice to come into the squad.

Rory, Talei tends to roam a bit too much to have the designated defensive duties of a 6. Denton seems to work better than Talei at 6 in my view.

Either way, I think both are better at 8, as is McInally, which is why I was surprised that Edinburgh, a side with only one half decent loosehead, would announce yet another 8. That said, I know very little about this Georgian, and it may well be that he's equally comfortable across the back row, in which case I can understand the decision.

funnyExiledScot wrote:
Loosehead is surely the biggest worry. Chunk is ageing and behind him there is Traynor, a prop regularly defeated by an unmanned scrummaging machine. A big ball carrying islander at 1 would be a welcome addition.

The lock situation is annoying, because there are the resources in Scotland to deal with this. Glasgow have Kellock, Ryder, Swinson, Campbell, Gray (jnr) and McAlpine next season, that's 6. Edinburgh have Gilchrist, Turnbull and Cox (assuming Lozada leaves), that's 3.

The obvious move is to take one or two from Glasgow (I'd suggest McAlpine would be a good candidate given his U20 partnership with Gilchrist, and possibly Campbell as well). Clearly Kellock, Ryder and Swinson will be the main players at Glasgow next season, and Harley provides cover if needed, so opportunities may be limited for Campbell, Gray and McAlpine, unlike at Edinburgh, where an injury to Gilchrist or Cox leaves them horribly short.

+1

Well as some of you guys know the other rumour was that John Yapp was signing. Not quite a monstrous islander but a decent squad signing.

Have never really thought about winger though - are there any options anyone can think of?

Mark Robertson back again?

If his hamstring is mended. He was a fantastic player for us a couple of seasons ago - near a Scotland call up IMO but then got injured a lot and was let go. I follow him on Twitter and he hasn't been playing much rugby at all by the look of things.

RDW_Scotland wrote:If his hamstring is mended. He was a fantastic player for us a couple of seasons ago - near a Scotland call up IMO but then got injured a lot and was let go. I follow him on Twitter and he hasn't been playing much rugby at all by the look of things.

He's had a few games for London Scottish since coming down at Christmas on loan, RDW

That's what I was meaning - he's had a few games but doesn't seem to be back to consistent, week in week out rugby and hasn't been for a long time.

Basilaia had a great world cup. Combined incredibly well with Gorgodze, and their size caused real problems for big teams.

Basilaia looks a good signing, big ball carrier and tough which is what the pack needs, having read a couple bits in the french media seems he plays 6 as well.

The main position edinburgh need to sign players is lock. Lozada is rumoured to be going back to Franch leaving just Gilchrist, Cox and Turnbull.
Signing Campbell from Glasgow would be a good move as think he and Gilchrist would compliment each other.
Josh Brown at London Scots is a pretty good lock from what i have seen and has played for scots u20.
Another scottish qualified player is George Biagi at Aironi, not seen him play much but when he played against us he scored and looked pretty good.

I'd love Edinburgh to sign someone like Dannie Rossouw.

Edinburgh should be ok for wings, they have jones and visser. Theres also Dougie fyfe, James Fleming, James Farndale who has been really good with the u20s and Mark Robertson is back playing too.
Another option from club level might be Barry Mansfield the Currie wing who has been scoring alot and played for Western Force or the obvious choice would be Maitland!

Id literally sell my face to get maitland. Can't see it happening though!

I would love to see Maitland across this way, I am still optimistic as I think he won't be capped this season by the all blacks as guys like Savea and andre taylor at the canes are having brilliant seasons, masaga and nanai williams at the chiefs are also playing brilliantly and have all jumped ahead of him.

I think that this is a really encouraging signing and props to Georgia for pushing their players on to develop in Europe - that's Bregvadze and Gorgodze now playing for Toulouse and Zirakasvili playing at tighthead for Clermont. Based on his performance in the World Cup (he terrorised England from what I remember), it's about time Basilaia made the step up too.

FES - I think that Basilaia will be cover for 8 but will principally be played as a blindside.

Majestic83 wrote:I would love to see Maitland across this way, I am still optimistic as I think he won't be capped this season by the all blacks as guys like Savea and andre taylor at the canes are having brilliant seasons, masaga and nanai williams at the chiefs are also playing brilliantly and have all jumped ahead of him.

+1 Me too

George Carlin wrote:I think that this is a really encouraging signing and props to Georgia for pushing their players on to develop in Europe - that's Bregvadze and Gorgodze now playing for Toulouse and Zirakasvili playing at tighthead for Clermont. Based on his performance in the World Cup (he terrorised England from what I remember), it's about time Basilaia made the step up too.

FES - I think that Basilaia will be cover for 8 but will principally be played as a blindside.

GC, Isn't Gorgodze at Montpellier?

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

George Carlin wrote:I think that this is a really encouraging signing and props to Georgia for pushing their players on to develop in Europe - that's Bregvadze and Gorgodze now playing for Toulouse and Zirakasvili playing at tighthead for Clermont. Based on his performance in the World Cup (he terrorised England from what I remember), it's about time Basilaia made the step up too.

FES - I think that Basilaia will be cover for 8 but will principally be played as a blindside.

GC, Isn't Gorgodze at Montpellier?

You are correct. I am stoopid.

Majestic83 wrote:Edinburgh should be ok for wings, they have jones and visser. Theres also Dougie fyfe, James Fleming, James Farndale who has been really good with the u20s and Mark Robertson is back playing too.
Another option from club level might be Barry Mansfield the Currie wing who has been scoring alot and played for Western Force or the obvious choice would be Maitland!

I don't know anything about Farndale and Mansfield, and as discussed above, Mark Robertson has yet to complete a proper comeback. I've seen Fyfe - think he's more a centre. I've seen Fleming play 7's, and I think he's good enough to play for Edinburgh, but we won't know until he actually gets time in the Rabo12.

If Edinburgh are to seriously capitalise on the achievement of reaching the HC SF, and try to emulate it next year, then we need to ensure that the squad has the required depth of quality. Yes, Visser and Jones are good enough, but were Visser to get injured, I'm not convinced any of the above names would really add much in an HC environment. They may be cover, but not depth.

The forgotten man of all this is Ben Cairns. I guess he could make a comeback and provide cover for the back three, but his injury record is so grim you certainly can't rely on him.

funnyExiledScot wrote:
The forgotten man of all this is Ben Cairns. I guess he could make a comeback and provide cover for the back three, but his injury record is so grim you certainly can't rely on him.

You say that, but Cairnsy rarely got an injury up until he destroyed his knee in pre-season this year. Can't remember him missing many games at all really before that. I definitely wouldn't class him as injury prone therefore.

I really hope he can get back to full fitness and form. I think he's a fantastic player and was unlucky to get dumped by Scotland so soon after getting picked.

The game moves on at a fair old rate though - look how much has changed both in Edinburgh and Scotland this season.

I know the SRU aren't terminating his contract, having been out for over 6 months, which obviously shows they think he still has a future in the team. Which is good!

Fleming is an absolute blaster and considering he is playing in a relatively weaker team, has scored a shedload of tries in international 7s.

Even amonst the Edinburgh team, Lee Jones and Roddy Grant have shown what a good training the 7s circuit is.

Well maybe Cairns and Fleming can provide that depth, I guess we'll see (hopefully).

Still think Edinburgh could use another physical winger to back-up Visser.

Going back to the lock situation. Who let Craig Gillies of Worcester play for England A? He was born in Glasgow...

He could have been a cracking bruiser.

http://www.warriors.co.uk/warriors/matchcentre/players_warriors_first_team.php?player=3984&includeref=dynamic

nickj wrote:Going back to the lock situation. Who let Craig Gillies of Worcester play for England A? He was born in Glasgow...

He could have been a cracking bruiser.

http://www.warriors.co.uk/warriors/matchcentre/players_warriors_first_team.php?player=3984&includeref=dynamic

Hes just a bit... bald and shiny...

Another new Embra signing: Ben Atiga

Might start a new thread with that ASBO - will be interesting to see what the Kiwi's think of him.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Might start a new thread with that ASBO - will be interesting to see what the Kiwi's think of him.

Very true, good point