Toulon Vs Edinburgh Sat 12th Jan 17:30 (GMT)

Top against bottom

Theoretically, Toulon could overtake us if they win their next 2 games with a TBP and we get hee haw, but traditionally, French teams will chuck in the towel early doors if they're pretty much out of the reckoning. Will Toulon do that or will they come out firing and try to qualify?

With Edinburgh humping Toulon 40 to 14 last time round at HQ, will Toulon be looking for revenge or will they put out the B team?

Table

European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 5

1 Edinburgh 4 3 0 1 107 56 51 3 15
2 Montpellier 4 2 0 2 103 89 14 3 11
3 Nookie Broons 4 2 0 2 70 97 -27 0 8
4 Toulonnaise 4 1 0 3 90 128 -38 2 6

Venue: Stade Mayol

Ref: Wayne Barnes (England)  Assis Ref 1: Anthony Woodthorpe (England) Assis Ref 2: Simon McConnell (England)  TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

Edinburgh team to face RC Toulon at Stade Felix-Mayol in the Heineken Champions Cup on Saturday 12 January (kick-off 5.30pm GMT/ 6.30pm local time) – live on BT Sport


15. Blair Kinghorn (75)


14. Darcy Graham (16)

13. James Johnstone (32)

12. Chris Dean (78)

11. Duhan van der Merwe (32)


10. Jaco van der Walt (29)

9. Henry Pyrgos (14)


1. Pierre Schoeman (12)

2. Stuart McInally (131) CAPTAIN

3. WP Nel (126)

4. Ben Toolis (101)

5. Grant Gilchrist (131)

6. Jamie Ritchie (59)

7. Hamish Watson (92)

8. Viliame Mata (50)


Replacements: 16. David Cherry (10); 17. Allan Dell (55); 18. Simon Berghan (60); 19. Fraser McKenzie (106); 20. Luke Crosbie (20); 21. Nathan Fowles (67); 22. Simon Hickey (14); 23. Juan Pablo Socino (13)


Unavailable due to injury: Pietro Ceccarelli; Rory Sutherland; Lewis Carmichael; John Barclay; Magnus Bradbury; Senitiki Nayalo; Luke Hamilton; Matt Scott; Mark Bennett; Damien Hoyland

RC TOULON

15. Mathieu Smaili,
14. JP Pietersen,
13. Mathieu Bastareaud (c),
12. Francois Trinh-Duc,
11. Julian Savea,
10. Anthony Belleau,
9. Rhys Webb,
1. Jean Baptiste Gros,
2. Guilhem Guirado,
3. Emerick Setiano,
4. Juandré Kruger,
5. Romain Taofifenua,
6. Stephane Onambele Mbarga,
7. Facundo Isa,
8. Raphael Lakafia.

Replacements:

16. Anthony Etrillard,
17. Xavier Chiocci,
18. Marcel Van Der Merwe,
19. Jean Monribot,
20. Louis Carbonel,
21. Antoine Zeghdar,
22. Yoann Cottin,
23. Mamuka Gorgodze,

beat me to it Tattie.

Just for some additional info:

Ref: Wayne Barnes (England)  Assis Ref 1: Anthony Woodthorpe (England) Assis Ref 2: Simon McConnell (England)  TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

Will be interesting to see what team Toulon will put out, they are really struggling in the Top 14 and you would think they would be targeting that, but who knows with Mourad in charge.

Edinburgh go into this in a pretty good place, with healthy competition for places, a strong run of form and key players rested on the weekend....i'd go as far to say that they are favorites, which is a bit mental.

Not many positions up for grabs, although I noticed that Dean was listed as injured on the weekend, would Socino start or might Cockers be tempted to play VDW at 12? Other question marks over who the lock bench is, and who backs up Pyrgos? I'd go with Mackenzie and Shiel, who looked really impressive on Saturday.

Is Sheil registered for this comp?  I would be surprised if he was.

I don't know how much rotation Toulon could do for this match due to the players they have registered to play in it, but I can't see them focusing on it, given they would need to get TBP wins against us and falcons.  They may not have officially written it off, but it would take a hell of comeback.

I don't know if Jaco has ever played 12 for us, certainly I can't think of a time he has, so I'd be reluctant to move him there.

There seems to be a Charlie Shiel  registered as one of four SHs

That's interesting given he's not really had a look in until the weekend. I would still be surprised if he was benching for this game. I'd imagine Kennedy (if fit) getting a bench spot, or failing that Fowles who (and forgive me for saying this) actually was ok against Kings.

I just think it might be a bit harsh on Sheil to play 20 mins of rugby against a very poor team and then go up against Toulon in his next appearance.

EWT Spoons wrote:That's interesting given he's not really had a look in until the weekend.  I would still be surprised if he was benching for this game.  I'd imagine Kennedy (if fit) getting a bench spot, or failing that Fowles who (and forgive me for saying this) actually was ok against Kings.

I just think it might be a bit harsh on Sheil to play 20 mins of rugby against a very poor team and then go up against Toulon in his next appearance.

Yeah, I don't think he will play him and maybe he shouldn't. Can't help but feel that he should have had a lot more minutes at this stage though, and that he could have been ready if he were afforded some more game time earlier in the season.

Possibly, but I guess it comes down to the issue that at the start of the season we couldn't get a run together of winning games and it would be tough to bring a young untested player into that environment. Also, and perhaps more of an issue, he wasn't exactly over performing for Currie at the start of the season. He was ok, but not brilliant, certainly not good enough to oust the players ahead of him. Hopefully that's changed now (not been to a Currie match for a while), and he certainly took his chance when he came on. He was given a bit of an armchair ride though given the Kings were terrible.

It's madness to think that at this stage of the season we have a 4 point lead at the top of the table and are actually travelling to Toulon with confidence of winning!

Whatever happens we're still likely to be having an all or nothing shoot out with Montpellier the week after. Beating Toulon would at least help us qualify as one of the best runners up - 19 points should be enough.

Ah right enough, I forget that it's only top place that goes through. I'd say then there's even less chance of Toulon putting out a full team for this then as they'll pretty much have the euro written off now. No way will both us and Montpellier not pick up any points in the last two games (given we play Monty so one of us will need to pick up some points)

Hopefully then Toulon put out a bunch of kiddies and we get another 5 points off them (though even just 4, or even 2) should see us through to the next stage one way or another

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OTPK7gUW3nk

Big Brian with a try at the weekend vs Racing.

It would be great to see Edinburgh win this weekend. The best thing about Edinburgh at the moment is that they’ve got the self belief to win these big fixtures. Really hope they can continue their recent good form.

This may be Edinburgh best chance of going through, the following week Pelly are definitely going to arrive in Edinburgh fully cocked and looking for the win, I think that may end up being the harder game of the two.

We competed well against a fully cocked Montpeillier away from home (and probably should have won!) so hopefully we take that confidence into that game too. Saying that, I don't see them taking us lightly this time.

As long as Nadolo doesn't return...

Nadolo is back I think.

Him lining up against Graham is going to be the ultimate David v Golliath!

Mind you taking him low is probably the best option. All Price made the best stab of the Glasgow players of dealing with him for us last year

bsando wrote:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OTPK7gUW3nk

Big Brian with a try at the weekend vs Racing.

It would be great to see Edinburgh win this weekend. The best thing about Edinburgh at the moment is that they’ve got the self belief to win these big fixtures. Really hope they can continue their recent good form.

Involved twice in that try as well - could have been a huge (in all senses of the word) player for Glasgow.

BigGee wrote:Nadolo is back I think.

Him lining up against Graham is going to be the ultimate David v Golliath!

Mind you taking him low is probably the best option. All Price made the best stab of the Glasgow players of dealing with him for us last year

Do a Cammy Murray and just jump on Nadolo's back and weigh him down a bit until help arrives!

I don't imagine Nandolo would even notice Darcy Graham on his back!

I really do like how Cockers speaks in the media - I'm sure the players respond well to it too.

An Edinburgh V Glasgow Euro QF is not beyond the realms of possibility!

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby-union/richard-cockerill-eyes-edinburgh-v-glasgow-euro-quarter-final-1-4853604

If we get Glasgow at home in the 1/4 final, by virtue of already humpng them twice this season, the SRU have said Edinburgh will just get a bye into the Semi and we can rest our players.

No point in playing a pointless match agianst a team that can't live with your dominance.

PS, I've never seen a photo of someone drinking a cup of tea/coffee with such a cheeky expression. Cockers is quite the card.

So DR's masterplan is obvious now: allow the Luvvies two victories, lull them onto a false sense of competence and then bump them out of europe...and the Pro 14 play offs too.

It can happen.

jimbopip wrote:
So DR's masterplan is obvious now: allow the Luvvies two victories, lull them onto a false sense of competence and then bump them out of europe...and the Pro 14 play offs too.

It can happen.

See now that post could be taken in one of two ways.

1 - "Ha, yeah right Jimbo, if this consipirency theory helps you sleep at night, then jsut you nash on sir"

or

2 - "Fook, you could be right"

With Edinburgh's record of being up and down, option 2 could indeed be correct. However, Benetton would indicate that you're living in cloud cuckoo land and yer team (if they make it to a 1/4 against us), will get humped!

Edinburgh team's up. It's exactly as probably everyone expected.

Head Coach Richard Cockerill has welcomed back seven Scotland internationalists into his starting line-up for tomorrow evening’s crucial Heineken Champions Cup match against RC Toulon at Stade Mayol (Saturday 12 January, kick-off 5.30pm GMT/ 6.30pm local time) – live on BT Sport.

Scotland stars Blair Kinghorn, Henry Pyrgos, Stuart McInally, WP Nel, Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist and Hamish Watson all return to action after being rested in last weekend’s Guinness PRO14 win against Southern Kings.

As the capital side look to secure their sixth consecutive win in all competitions, the team selection includes 11 changes from the side that secured a 38-0 bonus-point victory at BT Murrayfield six days ago.

Ahead of the fixture, Cockerill, said: “We have to go and play our game. They are a far better team at home and have improved hugely from the last time that we played them.

“This is what you coach for and it’s what you live for as a player as well. I have told the players not to worry, but to travel there with excitement.

“Let’s go and enjoy it because one - we’re good enough to win if we get it right, and two - we’ll learn something about ourselves. We’ll know what it feels like and looks like to perform in those arenas and against those types of teams.

“We’d like to make a little bit of history on Saturday, but we’re well aware that it will take a lot of hard work and drive to achieve a positive result.”

Back-row duo Jamie Ritchie and Viliame Mata, along with wingers Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe are the only players to retain their positions in the starting XV.

Fullback Blair Kinghorn returns to action and partners wingers Van der Merwe and Graham in a back-three that has combined to cross the whitewash six times in the last five matches.

Centres Chris Dean – a try-scorer in October’s bonus-point win over RC Toulon at BT Murrayfield - and James Johnstone are once again named in midfield, whilst South African stand-off Jaco van der Walt and experienced scrum-half Pyrgos return at half-back.

A revamped front-row sees captain McInally pack down alongside Nel and Pierre Schoeman at the coal face, whilst club centurion lock duo Gilchrist and Toolis once again line-up in the second-row.

The inclusion of 23-times capped openside flanker, Watson, is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged back-row as Scotland teammate, Ritchie, and Fijian No. 8 Mata complete the forward pack.



Edinburgh team to face RC Toulon at Stade Felix-Mayol in the Heineken Champions Cup on Saturday 12 January (kick-off 5.30pm GMT/ 6.30pm local time) – live on BT Sport



15. Blair Kinghorn (75)



14. Darcy Graham (16)

13. James Johnstone (32)

12. Chris Dean (78)

11. Duhan van der Merwe (32)



10. Jaco van der Walt (29)

9. Henry Pyrgos (14)



1. Pierre Schoeman (12)

2. Stuart McInally (131) CAPTAIN

3. WP Nel (126)

4. Ben Toolis (101)

5. Grant Gilchrist (131)

6. Jamie Ritchie (59)

7. Hamish Watson (92)

8. Viliame Mata (50)



Replacements: 16. David Cherry (10); 17. Allan Dell (55); 18. Simon Berghan (60); 19. Fraser McKenzie (106); 20. Luke Crosbie (20); 21. Nathan Fowles (67); 22. Simon Hickey (14); 23. Juan Pablo Socino (13)



Unavailable due to injury: Pietro Ceccarelli; Rory Sutherland; Lewis Carmichael; John Barclay; Magnus Bradbury; Senitiki Nayalo; Luke Hamilton; Matt Scott; Mark Bennett; Damien Hoyland

Absolutely no surprises in that team selection!

Seems like either cockers is planning on beasting them in the build up to the game, or a number of players are away for a jolly. Pictures on the club twitter account show players like Marfo, CHH & Kennedy as being part of the travelling party.

Toulon's team is up, but I can't post it here. Looks decent, certainly in the backs

Cheers LT

There goes the hope that they would rest their key players!

It'll just make the victory even sweeter...

RDW_Scotland wrote:There goes the hope that they would rest their key players!

They obviously want to test themselves against the best!

Tell you what, thats some feckin team Toulon have put out!

I'm still not sure if the players will be 100% firing for this though given the French approach to lost causes. I'm not an avid follower of the Top 14 so I'm not sure if some of these boys are playing for thier jerseys or not.

Trinh-duc is a second playmaker and Bastareaud is just a big Bastareaud so our centres will need to be on thier defensive game here!

mon the Burgh!

Big Brian is not playing - you guys will be fine!

'mon Edinburgh!

Well that's the worst start possible

Not a good start!

Not a good start for Edinburgh

We need to get our sh!t together asap

Edinburgh need to have a good set here to get themselves in the game

Better

Good kick VDW

We've recovered well

Darcy Graham!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darcy Graham!!!

What a bump from the wee man!

Great offload from Ritchie too

These cheap penalties giving them kicks to the corner need to stop

Could be a high scoring game this one, both sides playing pretty loose

Is it just me or is HP whipping the ball away a lot faster than he usually does?

I don't think he has done a box kick yet either!

VDM is such a beast.

BigGee wrote:Is it just me or is HP whipping the ball away a lot faster than he usually does?

I don't think he has done a box kick yet either!

I was just thinking that - it's like he's wanting us to have more possession