Edinburgh V Connacht 12th Sept

Preview: Edinburgh v Connacht
Edinburgh Rugby ended a five game losing streak in the Guinness PRO12 with their exciting 14-13 victory at Munster on Friday.
Related Multimedia
The Scotsmen have not begun a season with back-to-back victories since 2009/10, but are on an unwanted run of three straight home defeats.

Connacht also ended a five game losing run with their 16-11 victory at home to the Dragons on Saturday. Connacht began the 2011/12 season with two victories, the first time they had achieved this since 2006. The Irishmen's only victory in Scotland in their last seven visits was in this equivalent fixture at Murrayfield two seasons ago.

Connacht were victorious 11-7 in Galway the last time that these two sides met but have never managed back-to-back victories over Edinburgh.

At BT Murrayfield, 7.35pm

Live on BBC Alba & TG4

Referee: Gary Conway (IRFU, 2nd competition game)
Assistant Referees: Lloyd Linton, Graeme Marshall (both SRU)
Citing Commissioner: Rob Flockhart (SRU)
TMO: David Changleng (SRU)

Edinburgh

15 Jack Cuthbert
14 Sam Beard
13 Phil Burleigh
12 Andries Strauss
11 Nick McLennan
10 Tom Heathcote
9 Sean Kennedy

1 Alasdair Dickinson
2 Ross Ford (Captain)
3 John Andress
4 Fraser McKenzie
5 Ollie Atkins
6 Tomas Leonardi
7 Hamish Watson
8 Cornell Du Preez

16 James Hilterbrand
17 Rory Sutherland
18 W P Nel
19 Anton Bresler
20 Mike Coman
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22 Grayson Hart
23 Joaquin Dominguez

Connacht

15. Darragh Leader
14. Niyi Adeolokun
13. Robbie Henshaw
12. Dave McSharry
11. Danie Poolman
10. Jack Carty
9. Kieran Marmion

1. Denis Buckley
2. Dave Heffernan
3. Nathan White
4. Mick Kearney
5. Quinn Roux
6. John Muldoon ©
7. Willie Faloon
8. Eoin McKeon

16. Sean Henry
17. Finlay Bealham
18. Rodney Ah You
19. Aly Muldowney
20. George Naoupu
21. Ian Porter
22. Craig Ronaldson
23. Fionn Carr

Right lads, first up apologies to anyone who has put any thought into their match threads, this is a very poor copy and paste job from the pro12 site.

Anyway here’s your thread for the upcoming match between Edinburgh and Connacht. Enjoy

Good job!

I see it is an Irish referee - so much for neutral refs in the Pro 12 this year!

only his 2nd game too - not holding out much hope.

Aye and all the rest are Scottish, not even close to being neutral in all that lot.

I can't remember but was this game last season the only one we got a Try Bonus Point? I remember rattling in 3 tries in the last 10 mins which flattered us a bit.
Would take a win of any kind here to be honest, Connacht had a decent enough win last week too.
Anybody know if we have any new injuries (or returning players) for this one? Not sure if we will be making many changes, can see Solomans mabye bringing in Burleigh and Coman, and possibly somebody for Visser if he is injured.

Good work EWT!

In terms of team selection, I think we've got to go for it - don't set up as defensively as we did at Munster.

To me that me and bringing in S-H-C and hurly for Strauss. I suspect the latter is less likely though. I suspect Coman will be starting too - he looked keen last week. Hopefully Tonks is fit.

Would be good to see Gilchrist or Bresler making an appearance too but not sure of their injury status.

Dickinson
Ford
Andress
Atkins
McKenzie
Coman
Watson
Du preez

S-H-C
Tonks
Visser
Hurly
Beard
Fife
Cuthbert

I suspect he'll keep things similar to the Munster game though.

Any word on Tonks injury? Is he likely to be back for this match?

McInally didn't think it was that serious when he spoke about it in commentary, and visser got a dead leg.

No word though.

Cheers

I agree with RDWs team but I would like to see heathcote get a run of games as I am unsure of tonks kicking ability. I would also like to see chris dean have a go soon and Connacht at home is probably one of the easier games to make your competitive debut.


I was just flicking through the squad list, we have 9 centres and apart from Scott none are proven. What is the point of that ? Surely we could get away with 5 and fife/Bezy covering

True on Tonks' kicking but Heathcoat hasn't overly inspired me with confidence yet.

Cuthbert kicked a lot last year and looked pretty good, so that is always an option with Tonks at 10.

I just think we shouldn't be relying on a decent kicker against Connacht if we're serious about pushing for top 6 - we need to be scoring tries against teams like Connacht, and for me that mean S-H-C, Tonks and Hurly. Dean would be a decent attacking option too but Beard has actually done OK, and I can't see Solomons ringing the changes - it's not his style.

I would be surprised if he makes many changes at all apart from starting Coman, and maybe bringing recently injured players back into the squad.

Another note on Heathcoat against Munster was that I thought his passing was very poor - regularly passing to people's ankles and behind their backs, killing momentum.

I know he was expecting to be on the couch watching the game on TV until the day before, but he had still trained with the squad all week.

I agree with those calling for Tonks to return if fit. Heathcote needs to get some confidence back so wouldn't be totally against him getting a run, but think a few substitute appearances playing against tiring legs may help get his chin up more.

Given the negativity of last season this could have been a very apathetic start but the win against Munster gives the team a platform to win over some doubters at home. We could do with a good win and some tries here - I'm sure some people are still wavering on the ST front (or just support in general!). If we play with a bit of ambition, like the offloading game we saw in patches last week we'll give ourselves real grounds for optimism.

I'm fully in favour of Tonks as I thought he was really showing some form last season at 10 for us.  However with that said, in theory, Connacht  *should* be one of the weaker teams in the league and it might help boost Heathcote’s confidence and see if that gets him firing on all cylinders again, playing against a team who we should be able to beat.

*They’ve strengthened pretty well and got a good result last week so are probably far better than I’ve just given them credit for.

Will be interesting to see what happens to Rory Sutherland when Blaauw is fit. I've seen nothing from Blaauw to suggest he's anything other than a squad player, so I'd be pretty disappointed if he comes straight in at Sutherland's expense.

Hopefully Alan Dell is back soon - he was one of the most promising signings of the summer IMO and really want to see what he's like.

Decent looking pack for Edinburgh, the same as gave Munster all those problems. With Bresslar and Conman to come on, the bench looks stronger as well. They should get a pretty good front foot in this game if they play as well as last week.

The backs still look a little way off the first choice line, but it looks as if this is being largely dictated by injuries, so much so that they will have S H-C covering wing again. I am glad that Heathcote gets another game and hopefully he can settle down and bring a bit of control this time, also show us what a good kicker he can be. We are maybe not quite as potent out wide as last time, with Fife and Viss both injured but it will be good to have a good look at Burleigh and Mclelland in a proper game.

Despite the injuries this should be a very winnable game. I am looking forward to some distraction from the referendum debate, thank god it will be over soon!

I think that it would be better to post the team before we start talking about it:

15 Jack Cuthbert
14 Sam Beard
13 Phil Burleigh
12 Andries Strauss
11 Nick McLennan
10 Tom Heathcote
9 Sean Kennedy

1 Alasdair Dickinson
2 Ross Ford (Captain)
3 John Andress
4 Fraser McKenzie
5 Ollie Atkins
6 Tomas Leonardi
7 Hamish Watson
8 Cornell Du Preez

16 James Hilterbrand
17 Rory Sutherland
18 W P Nel
19 Anton Bresler
20 Mike Coman
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22 Grayson Hart
23 Joaquin Dominguez

Nice to see Big Anton (we're going to have to come up with a nickname for him too) on the bench, although surely we can do better than have 2 scrum halves on there? I presume that Hurly can move to 10 if necessary.

Visser, Tonks and Fife apparently all took knocks last week although it all sounds like nothing serious.

The Connacht team has apparently also been posted but if you can work out how their strange flash website actually works, then you're a smarter and more handsome individual than me.

Are beard and McLennan seriously better wing options than Farndale, Hoyland and that big American chap - all of whom are specialist wingers??

Real strength in the pack though, both starting and bench.

Thought that with all the wingers injured we could get to see what Thompson looks like on a (proper) rugby field but instead we have centres covering wings and 2 scrum half on the bench

Other than that very happy with the team, particularly the pack and it will be good to see Big Anton coming from the bench.

Should be a good battle against a strong Connacht team.

George Carlin wrote:The Connacht team has apparently also been posted but if you can work out how their strange flash website actually works, then you're a smarter and more handsome individual than me.

Well that part was never in doubt  

Connacht line-up v Edinburgh

15. Darragh Leader

14. Niyi Adeolokun

13. Robbie Henshaw

12. Dave McSharry

11. Danie Poolman

10. Jack Carty

9. Kieran Marmion



1. Denis Buckley

2. Dave Heffernan

3. Nathan White

4. Mick Kearney

5. Quinn Roux

6. John Muldoon

7. Willie Faloon

8. Eoin McKeon

Replacements:

16. Sean Henry

17. Finlay Bealham

18. Rodney Ah You

19. Aly Muldowney

20. George Naoupu

21. Ian Porter

22. Craig Ronaldson

23. Fionn Carr

Unavailable / Injured: Jason Harris-Wright, Tom McCartney, Andrew Browne, Jake Heenan, Mata Fifita, Bundee Aki, Mils Muliaina, Tiernan O’Halloran, Matt Healy

George Carlin wrote:The Connacht team has apparently also been posted but if you can work out how their strange flash website actually works, then you're a smarter and more handsome individual than me.

Their website is awful, you have to very quickly scroll down to the bottom to see their bench

I don't see what the problem is with the Irish Ref, ok neutral reffs would be ideal, but it appears failing that the Ref is from the Union of the away team and Assistant Referees, Citing Commissioner and TMO are all from the home union to cut down travelling costs.

I don't think a neutral ref is ever going to available in all games, and it would mean every Welsh v Irish game would have either a Scottish or Italian ref, nd I don't think we would want that.

I think the present system is the best we are going to be able to get.

Welsh posters bring it up time and time again normally to run down the league, and its the same posters who would have wanted the regions to join the Jeff, but they never though that if they did join the Jeff nearly every time they played an english side they would have an english ref, and most likely English Assistant Referees, Citing Commissioner and TMO as well.

summed up, ref being from the away teams Union and Assistant Referees, Citing Commissioner and TMO being from home teams Union, is not ideal, but is the most practical solution at present.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Are beard and McLennan seriously better wing options than Farndale,  Hoyland and that big American chap - all of whom are specialist wingers??

Real strength in the pack though, both starting and bench.

Farndale has had an Op I think, going to be out for a good few months I'm afraid. I'm sure I read that Hoyland picked up a knock a couple of weeks ago (not too serious though). Does seem strange Thompson isn't getting at least a bench spot though given we have 4 injuries there, either he is still getting "re-conditioned" to be match fit or the management don't think much of him.

Still fairly optimistic though. Must say I am glad Nel hasn't walked staight back in for Andress - he put in a great shift last week and deserves to retain his place.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Are beard and McLennan seriously better wing options than Farndale,  Hoyland and that big American chap - all of whom are specialist wingers??

Real strength in the pack though, both starting and bench.

Hoyland and Farndale both injured, Farndale long term. I don't know about the yank, nothing about him on the Edinburgh website. The backs do seem to be down to the bare bones at the moment, but hopefully not for long.

From the Edinburgh press announcement (not sure they meant to publish it on the website, but it's there). Explains some of the slightly strange selections, e.g. wing.


"Notes to Editors
 
During last Friday night's win over Munster, wingers Tim Visser suffered a dead leg and Dougie Fife took a knock to the knee. Full back Greig Tonks sustained a groin injury during the captain's run prior to the team setting off for Ireland. All are being monitored by the medical team this week.
 
Meanwhile Grant Gilchrist – the eight-times capped Scotland lock – returned from captaining his country on the summer tour with an ankle complaint that did not sufficiently recover following a period of rehabilitation. The player had a 'clean up' operation on the injury last month and is expected to return to rugby by the end of the month.
 
Back-row Roddy Grant, who sustained a shoulder injury in the club's 11-10 pre-season defeat to Leicester Tigers, is expected to return within the next fortnight, while hooker Stuart McInally is currently rehabilitating an ongoing ankle complaint. Schoolboy signing, back row Jamie Ritchie, is being treated for a shoulder knock, centre Michael Tait is rehabbing a knee injury and winger Damien Hoyland is being monitored after a calf strain.
 
Hooker George Turner continues his recovery from concussion while lock Alex Toolis is being monitored following a knee injury last month.
 
Jamie Farndale's training session knee injury last month required an operation, with the player's rehabilitation period expected to be around six months.
 
International back row and centre pair, David Denton and Matt Scott, continue their longer-term recovery as scheduled.'

Well we have a pretty clear update on the injury situation now!

I love the expression "schoolboy signing".

Makes it sound as though doing it was an easily avoidable error...

justified sinner wrote:From the Edinburgh press announcement (not sure they meant to publish it on the website, but it's there). Explains some of the slightly strange selections, e.g. wing.


"Notes to Editors
 
During last Friday night's win over Munster, wingers Tim Visser suffered a dead leg and Dougie Fife took a knock to the knee. Full back Greig Tonks sustained a groin injury during the captain's run prior to the team setting off for Ireland. All are being monitored by the medical team this week.
 
Meanwhile Grant Gilchrist – the eight-times capped Scotland lock – returned from captaining his country on the summer tour with an ankle complaint that did not sufficiently recover following a period of rehabilitation. The player had a 'clean up' operation on the injury last month and is expected to return to rugby by the end of the month.
 
Back-row Roddy Grant, who sustained a shoulder injury in the club's 11-10 pre-season defeat to Leicester Tigers, is expected to return within the next fortnight, while hooker Stuart McInally is currently rehabilitating an ongoing ankle complaint. Schoolboy signing, back row Jamie Ritchie, is being treated for a shoulder knock, centre Michael Tait is rehabbing a knee injury and winger Damien Hoyland is being monitored after a calf strain.
 
Hooker George Turner continues his recovery from concussion while lock Alex Toolis is being monitored following a knee injury last month.
 
Jamie Farndale's training session knee injury last month required an operation, with the player's rehabilitation period expected to be around six months.
 
International back row and centre pair, David Denton and Matt Scott, continue their longer-term recovery as scheduled.'

Well I suppose if you are going to accidently release a private document into the public domain you'd be glad when you realised it was just an injury update list!

Just to note Thompson isn't mentioned there, nor is Chris Dean.  Think Dean got injured against Leicester in pre-season so not sure what the score is with him  

George Carlin wrote:I love the expression "schoolboy signing".

Makes it sound as though doing it was an easily avoidable error...

That make me chuckle too. Given our record over the last few years though I think that phrase could have been used on many more occasions.

Dean played for Accies last week.

Well that certainly answers a lot of questions. Real shame for Farndale - if it took him while to get over his broken leg, it's not going to help now having a serious knee injury. At this rate he's going to be another promising young player that never quite made it.

So pretty much every fit and available back is in the squad (not sure on Dean and Thompson) - bit worrying!

Feel sorry for S-H-C - his versatility will probably see him coming on at fullback or wing, when he really needs to be staking his claim at 9.

Dean was taken off as a precaution vs Leicester but he is very injury prone and would not be pushed out to the wing at this level. I heard farndale is looking unlikely he will play at all this season which is a real shame.

I wouldn't mind seeing SHC playing 10 for a bit at edinburgh because when he played there at school level he was sensational. But it is worrying the lack of strength and depth(in the backs) we have at the moment.

I am surprised to see fion Carr is only on the bench, I thought he was a great player

CraigS1874 wrote:Dean was taken off as a precaution vs Leicester but he is very injury prone and would not be pushed out to the wing at this level.  I heard farndale is looking unlikely he will play at all this season which is a real shame.

I wouldn't mind seeing SHC playing 10 for a bit at edinburgh because when he played there at school level he was sensational. But it is worrying the lack of strength and depth(in the backs) we have at the moment.

I am surprised to see fion Carr is only on the bench, I thought he was a great player

Don't you start - we've got too many potentially amazing but unproven options at 10 in Scotland as it is!

Wow that’s a fairly detailed injury update.

Feel bad for Farndale, after breaking his leg and now what sounds like ligament damage.  I would imagine he’s going to have lost a lot of pace through these injuries.

Due to our lack of backs I think Embra will play 10 man rugby here. Given that I think a 6-2 bench split would have been the sensible choice on this occasion. Not something I normally advocate, but given the circumstances.....

Thompson apparently played for Gala last week and was outstanding, scoring 2 tries in the process..

justified sinner wrote:Due to our lack of backs I think Embra will play 10 man rugby here. Given that I think a 6-2 bench split would have been the sensible choice on this occasion. Not something I normally advocate, but given the circumstances.....

Would have been a tailor made bench spot for Denton. He spent a lot of time standing in the backline last year.

Richie Gray told him that there's a lot more glory that way.

The Scotsman is saying this morning that Hoyland is away with the 7s team and Thompson is back home for his brother's wedding. That explains those two then!

Visser should be back next week, as should Thompson, so we should be back to normal for the Ospreys game.

Apart from the forced changes to the wing, good side. Looking forward to seeing Burleigh at 13 and the pack is strong.

Home win please.

I'm pleased to see Hurly in there too but it's a shame he's not in his best position - 12. I'm not convinced he has the pace for 13 from what I've seen, but hopefully be proven wrong.

Edinburgh really are crying out for a good 13.

An important game for Edinburgh, and a tough one. Like the look of our Forwards, should be able to grab this game by the belt buckle and smother Connacht and starve them of possesion.

Well after a very good game last weekend, getting a win that no one really expected it is back to the slightly more uncomfortable reality of a game they really should win against a very stuffy side.

Munster were very poor last week, so this game may actually be a better reflection of where Edinburgh actually are. They have got to start winning these games comfortably if they are going to challenge in this league. Not quite the best backline out there, with a lack of obvious finishers but a very good looking pack. Hoping for a much better game from Heathcote this week, this is his chance to put down a marker. If he does not take it then he may be on bench warming duties for a while once Tonks gets back!

Anyone able to get the English commentary on tv?

Massive kick by heathcoat

Ross Rennie style turnover from Watson there!

Brilliant by young Hamish!

3-0 to the Range Rover Drivers.

Jaysus - it looks like a right pea souper in Edinburgh. Or maybe its my online feed...

If heathcoat keeps banging them over from halfway he'll be hard to dislodge!

RDW_Scotland wrote:Anyone able to get the English commentary on tv?

Nope, it's all Gaelic, all the time for me, and not even Hugh Dan McPenas.

Heathcote's kicking is great, and the pitch looks good enough to take out for a nice seafood dinner.

Pretty amateur stuff to mess up the red button 2 weeks in a row