Glasgow & Edinburgh: Pre-Season Friendlies

First topic message reminder :

Keen to know which sides all other teams are playing over the next few weeks before the season starts in earnest, so please post your side's fixtures and I'll add them to the OP.

GLASGOW:

            
Harlequins v Glasgow Warriors
The Stoop, Twickenham
Saturday 20 August
KO: 16:00

                        
Gloucester Rugby v Glasgow Warriors
Kingsholm, Gloucester
Friday 26 August
KO: 19:45

EDINBURGH:

            
Sale Sharks v Edinburgh Rugby
Heywood Road, Sale
Friday 19 August
KO: 19:00

                       
Edinburgh Rugby v Newcastle Falcons
BT Murrayfield, Jessieland
Friday 26 August
KO: 19:45

Some good scores from your boys Geordie.

Yeah doing not bad.

Fonua has just introduced himself to the game ouch!

Well taken try by Edinburgh

That Fijian lad is some player!!

Crackin try from Edinburgh...that Fijian again causing chaos!!

I take it you mean Edinburgh?

Ha ha yeah sorry Edinburgh...changed.

The commentators now calling Calum Chick.....Mark Smith... oh lord

I'm not watching it but sounds like Rasolea has made a big impact.

ANd they realise its Calum chick as he scores....

Hes a match winner RDW. What a player.

Good to hear, especially given that he was a fairly solid yet unspectacular player for western force!

We win 26-21

But what a CRACKIN game!!!

Edinburgh look an exciting attacking team. Give them a few games to get going and I think they very a VERY good side.

Played with pace out wide and physical upfront. Nel is a beast.

But we scored some good tries aswell.

Disappointing pre-season for us but these games don't matter come the end of the season.

Pleasing to hear we look more threatening in attack but the Twitter commentary suggests we gave away some soft scores.

We both did...but I think that was more to do with the rolling subs maybe unsettling the team structures etc.

I go in to the season a little happier....and very quietly hopeful we can move away from bottom and second bottom this season.

wonder if Watson become an out and out starter.

I was at the game so had to make do with a view from the side of the pitch, but thought we were pretty poor. No real change from last season, typical Solomons game plan of finding contact as soon as possible. Sasa played well but needs to improve his decision making when it comes to offloads, but could be dangerous for us.

Front row was good, but to be fair nel was against Welsh at loosehead which I'm not sure is his best position.

Falcons had some good players, number 13 looked like he had the beating of us and the lad with the hair seemed to cause problems. Plus the number 12 that came on in the 2nd half is a monster.

It was only a friendly so time still to improve but not confident for Edinburgh this season. Need a big improvement before the season starts.

EWT Spoons wrote:

Front row was good, but to be fair nel was against Welsh at loosehead which I'm not sure is his best position.

Falcons had some good players,  number 13 looked like he had the beating of us and the lad with the hair seemed to cause problems.  Plus the number 12 that came on in the 2nd half is a monster.

Welsh is traditionally a TH who has played LH aswell. But yes he is predominantly a TH. Our two LH's have minor injuries.

13 is Chris Harris. He's about 26 and came all the way through the academy. Been in the side for a few seasons now. Hes very good if given a bit of space (aren't they all)

Who is the monster 12 you were referring to? I cant think who came on at 12. If you mean Fonua in the back row? Or was it Goneva coming back on to the pitch in the centre.

Most of the game Socino was at 12. And whist he's built like a cannonball hes not a monster.

The lad with the hair is Joel Hodgson who came on at 10. He came through the falcons academy and was the great hope at the time...real talent and ability...but he was missing a bit of maturity etc. Then he left for Northampton, failed in a season, moved to Leeds for a season and is back with us. Mixed feelings to be honest by most fans....but IF he can show the potential we saw in him before....then we'll be happy. He impressed me a lot in the second half....and really ran the ball well.

Wait, GF were you talking about our starting 13 (Sasa) or the guy that came on at 12 (Rasolea)?

ER's Twitter was talking up Rasolea but sounds like Sasa looks a real prospect?

Also, sounds like Duncan Weir made a big difference, directing play well.

GeordieFalcon wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:

Front row was good, but to be fair nel was against Welsh at loosehead which I'm not sure is his best position.

Falcons had some good players,  number 13 looked like he had the beating of us and the lad with the hair seemed to cause problems.  Plus the number 12 that came on in the 2nd half is a monster.

Welsh is traditionally a TH who has played LH aswell. But yes he is predominantly a TH. Our two LH's have minor injuries.

13 is Chris Harris. He's about 26 and came all the way through the academy. Been in the side for a few seasons now. Hes very good if given a bit of space (aren't they all)

Who is the monster 12 you were referring to? I cant think who came on at 12. If you mean Fonua in the back row? Or was it Goneva coming back on to the pitch in the centre.

Most of the game Socino was at 12. And whist he's built like a cannonball hes not a monster.

The lad with the hair is Joel Hodgson who came on at 10. He came through the falcons academy and was the great hope at the time...real talent and ability...but he was missing a bit of maturity etc. Then he left for Northampton, failed in a season, moved to Leeds for a season and is back with us. Mixed feelings to be honest by most fans....but IF he can show the potential we saw in him before....then we'll be happy. He impressed me a lot in the second half....and really ran the ball well.

Aye much prefer Welsh at TH, but makes sense if your two regular LHs were injured.

Harris cut us open so many times, not sure if that was down to him being amazing or our defence still being on holiday, but if the former he looked some player.

The number 12 was Opeti Fonua, he was listed as a blank shirt but seemed to have taken that number when he came on. Our players were bouncing off him.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Wait, GF were you talking about our starting 13 (Sasa) or the guy that came on at 12 (Rasolea)?

ER's Twitter was talking up Rasolea but sounds like Sasa looks a real prospect?

I think Sasa looked the better player, he's got quick feet and an eye for a gap. He made ground when he had the ball, but as I say, just needs to improve his decision making when it comes to offloads. But he's young so hopefully that'll improve with age

Well my son and I had a great trip down to Gloucester yesterday, highly recommended, as it really is a rugby town. Kingsholm itself is a fantastic place with great friendly crowd who are very knowledgeable about their rugby. The fans in the Shed (including our own Glove for the night) are unforgiving and don't let anything go. A really good bunch to have on your side.

We had a walk around the town before the kick off and had a drink in the old dock area first. If it seemed familiar, it was because it was, to anyone old enough on these boards to remember the Onedin Line, which was filmed there many years ago, masquerading as Liverpool. I come from a nautical family so it was standard sunday night viewing in the 1970s!

The game itself was slightly odd as Glasgow were absolutely all over them in the first half, camped on their line in fact, but could not score. More than a bit of white lne fever going on and that is where we missed some of the more experienced hands.

Gloucester came back into it well in the second half, aiding by an almighty bollocking at half time I imagine and our discipline fell away in the second half, allowing them to claim possession. It has to be said that when they got the ball they looked a lot more clinical than we did.

Still its pre season and that never really tells us to much. Roll on next weekend when the real action starts!

So in a nutshell, Edinburgh look rustier than a 19th century Paddle Steamer and Glasgow look like they got well and truly Tombola'd. Did I spot Fraser Brown at 7 again and nae fullback?

Watched the Falcons/Exfoliators game - well done to Newcastle who seemed to be sharp as sh!t with the ball in hand. Strong pack too - I hope that Solomons was reminded yet again that you cannot have a tissue paper defence with an average backline and still hope to win games.

The big news from an Edinburgh perspective was Junior Rasolea. He reminded me of a George Pisi mixed with a bit of Henry Speight. A real weapon with huge physicality and always looking to offload - if he can work with Burleigh, then Edinburgh has a midfield that can actually do something.

I thought that Weir did well (although always looks like a frantic badger about to throw a crucial intercept pass) and for once, with Russell not starting the season, I am actually nervous about Glasgow's weakness at 10 with Weir gone.

MacKenzie and Gilchrist looked rustier than Roddy Grant after a fortnight left out in the rain, but that's their first hit out in at least a year, so to be expected. Watching them lumber about, it did strike me that the days of big, stodgy locks who trundle into contact and squish scrum halves who run at them are well and truly over. It is the time of Itojes and any side which has rangier locks who can push and play heads-up, offloading rugby will be at a huge advantage.

George Carlin wrote:Watched the Falcons/Exfoliators game - well done to Newcastle who seemed to be sharp as sh!t with the ball in hand. Strong pack too - I hope that Solomons was reminded yet again that you cannot have a tissue paper defence with an average backline and still hope to win games.

The big news from an Edinburgh perspective was Junior Rasolea. He reminded me of a George Pisi mixed with a bit of Henry Speight. A real weapon with huge physicality and always looking to offload - if he can work with Burleigh, then Edinburgh has a midfield that can actually do something.

I thought that Weir did well (although always looks like a frantic badger about to throw a crucial intercept pass) and for once, with Russell not starting the season, I am actually nervous about Glasgow's weakness at 10 with Weir gone.

MacKenzie and Gilchrist looked rustier than Roddy Grant after a fortnight left out in the rain, but that's their first hit out in at least a year, so to be expected. Watching them lumber about, it did strike me that the days of big, stodgy locks who trundle into contact and squish scrum halves who run at them are well and truly over. It is the time of Itojes and any side which has rangier locks who can push and play heads-up, offloading rugby will be at a huge advantage.

I think there is still room for players like McKenzie and Gilchrist but it is about balance, and those 2 aren't well balanced together. Combine either with Ben Toolis and now you're talking.

Pleasing to hear we now have a big strong ball carrier in the backs, but he is very much a 12 - I can't see him and Burleigh working together. TBH Burleigh might be the one under threat, especially now that we've got Weir to run the game. Jason Tovey has dislocated his wrist and will be out long term so he may become our backup 10.

What is pleasing is that a lot of the interviews so far have been acknowledging that Edinburgh need better depth - you can't get a top 4 place with 20 good players. It is early days yet but we're hopefully now developing a bench that had good impact, and even improves things in some areas:

Sutherland, McInally, Berghan Toolis, Watson, Kennedy, Rasolea, Brown

Plenty impetus off the bench there.

I was at the Edinburgh v Newcastle game and felt on the day that Edinburgh should have won it. They had possession and territory for large parts of the game and Newcastle's exit strategy from their own 22 was fairly regularly pretty poor. Edinburgh just seemed to offer up unforced errors fairly often.

The Newcastle defence was often good for long periods but then they would get the ball back only to immediately gift it back again to Edinburgh. This lead to long periods after which Edinburgh would eventually score.

Basically, from my one viewing from the stand it looks like Newcastle need to perfect their exit strategy and game management (it was better after Delaney departed!), and Edinburgh need to stop mucking things up without pressure on them. I actually don't think the basic skills were consistent enough from either side and see both as potential lower half of the table teams (unfortunately). Hope I'm wrong as this was based on the one viewing of a friendly from the stands!

screamingaddabs wrote:I was at the Edinburgh v Newcastle game and felt on the day that Edinburgh should have won it.  They had possession and territory for large parts of the game and Newcastle's exit strategy from their own 22 was fairly regularly pretty poor.  Edinburgh just seemed to offer up unforced errors fairly often.

The Newcastle defence was often good for long periods but then they would get the ball back only to immediately gift it back again to Edinburgh.  This lead to long periods after which Edinburgh would eventually score.

Basically, from my one viewing from the stand it looks like Newcastle need to perfect their exit strategy and game management (it was better after Delaney departed!), and Edinburgh need to stop mucking things up without pressure on them.  I actually don't think the basic skills were consistent enough from either side and see both as potential lower half of the table teams (unfortunately).  Hope I'm wrong as this was based on the one viewing of a friendly from the stands!

I'm hoping it was just pre-season rustiness, but that is s common Edinburgh trait!

RDW_Scotland wrote:

screamingaddabs wrote:I was at the Edinburgh v Newcastle game and felt on the day that Edinburgh should have won it.  They had possession and territory for large parts of the game and Newcastle's exit strategy from their own 22 was fairly regularly pretty poor.  Edinburgh just seemed to offer up unforced errors fairly often.

The Newcastle defence was often good for long periods but then they would get the ball back only to immediately gift it back again to Edinburgh.  This lead to long periods after which Edinburgh would eventually score.

Basically, from my one viewing from the stand it looks like Newcastle need to perfect their exit strategy and game management (it was better after Delaney departed!), and Edinburgh need to stop mucking things up without pressure on them.  I actually don't think the basic skills were consistent enough from either side and see both as potential lower half of the table teams (unfortunately).  Hope I'm wrong as this was based on the one viewing of a friendly from the stands!

I'm hoping it was just pre-season rustiness, but that is s common Edinburgh trait!

Yeah, to be fair Newcastle were hardly error free, but Edinburgh did seem to make more completely unforced errors (e.g. dropping the ball from a kick with no one within 15 metres of the player!)