Hoyland ready for French test
ANOTHER woefully inadequate display by Edinburgh in a 26-10 defeat at the Scarlets on Friday has left them winless from six league games during this calendar year, and provided few signs of encouragement for the capital outfit’s beleaguered supporters ahead of their Challenge Cup quarter-final encounter against La Rochelle at Murrayfield in five days’ time.
The team have managed to pick up two wins in 2017 in the pool stage. While their 49-3 demolition of Romanian minnows Timisoara Saracens in late-January was routine, a 23-18 success over a strong but not quite full-strength Harlequins outfit at the Stoop a week earlier suggests this team might not be a completely lost cause. The problem is that those victories were two months ago and we have watched in horror as confidence has nosedived to the point where players are shovelling the ball to one another under pressure as if it is a ticking time bomb ready to explode in their faces.
It is going to take more than just a tightening up in a few key areas to turn recent diabolical performances into something worthwhile next Friday night against perhaps the most in-form team in all of Europe at the moment.
La Rochelle are eight points clear atop the French Top 14 league ladder, having picked up 11 consecutive victories in all competitions since early December.
They have conquered Racing 92, Toulouse and Toulon away from home in this period, so coming to a deserted Murrayfield – ticket sale updates have not been available this week – is unlikely to fill them with any great sense of dread.
It feels as if Edinburgh’s best hope will be if La Rochelle decide to focus on their quest for domestic glory and send a second-string outfit across, but that would not be in keeping with their approach to the Challenge Cup so far – and home winger Damian Hoyland doesn’t expect the Frenchmen to take it easy this weekend.
“I would have thought that if they are going to win the league then they would want to push to win the cup as well. You don’t get to the top of the French league by having just five good players, so whatever side they put out against us will be a good team,” he said.
“I watch French rugby on TV. Although they are probably more structured than other French teams, they still play a lovely open style – ‘jouie’ as they say – and like to throw the ball about. They’ve got big fast guys who are great at offloading and being top of the French league just now shows that it is working for them.” he added.
Hoyland insisted that his team can turn things around in time for Friday night, but he did not have an answer when asked if he can put his finger on why their European form should be in such stark contrast to their league showings.
“Truthfully, I have no idea. I don’t think it is anything mentally, and we’re not doing anything differently in training. It just happens to be the Cup games that we do better. ”