The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
New realities already a factor as action returns
Coaches forced to make tough calls in key areas for Murrayfield clash
Edinburgh are one hard knock to Jaco van der Walt away from having a novice at playmaker while Glasgow are taking a punt on a couple of Scotland international out of position as Scottish rugby restarts after a five-month break at BT Murrayfield with the third and final leg of the 1872 Cup.
In a strictly controlled bubble with no spectators and just a handful of media and officials, the new world of pandemic rugby will begin and has already produced harsh realities for both Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill and his new opposite number along the M8, former Scotland forwards coach Danny Wilson.
The full stop on recruitment caused by the loss of revenues from a five-month lockdown means both coaches are having to make do in key areas already, and this is just the start of a 10-month haul ending the postponed season and playing an entirely new one.
Well-advertised was Glasgow’s Huw Jones moving to full-back to cover the fact that Wilson has been unable to recruit a specialist for the key position, but the new head coach has Matt Fagerson at open-side rather than at 6 or 8, in the first game under tightened breakdown rules.
Meanwhile Cockerill knows that an injury to van der Walt means he will have to pitch Nathan Chamberlain – with “just a handful of men’s games under his belt” in the coach’s own admission – in at 10, and he has to give an earlier outing to former Warrior Andrew Davidson in the second row than he would have liked.
There’s still some meaty combinations out there, with Edinburgh’s front row starters and replacements particularly formidable, while Glasgow are equally well-endowed at half-back, where Ali Price and Adam Hastings are the starters with the Horne brothers probably the reserves.
But early injuries means there is no Darcy Graham, Henry Pyrgos, Jamie Ritchie, Magnus Bradbury and Ben Toolis for Edinburgh, while no Sam Johnson, Kyle Steyn, Adam Ashe and Alex Allan for the Warriors.
“These things happen and we have to adjust to suit,” said Cockerill. “The second row situation (both Fraser McKenzie and Lewis Carmichael are out as well as Toolis) is not ideal, but that’s life. Andrew Davidson gets his opportunity to put his hand up going forward.
“Nathan is working hard and he’s got a long way to go to be at the level we really need him at, but the reality is we have one contracted 10 and two Stage 3 Academy players.
“I hear Glasgow moan about not having a full-back, but they’ve got three 10s and plenty of full-backs as far as I can see. Nathan’s a good young player but I don’t think at this point we’re going to put too much pressure on him to be the next rock star.
“He’s probably played less than a handful of men’s games in his life so he may be on after five minutes tomorrow and he’ll have to adjust very quickly.”
Cockerill is not sure that Jones at 15 is a weakness for Glasgow, either.
“He likes attacking ball in hand, he’s very, very quick, and he’s got a very good eye for the gap. He’s a very talented footballer and we’ve got to make sure we give him as little opportunity as possible.”
That said, he can expect to be tested by a high ball reasonably quickly.
“I’d say he’s going to be catching a high ball quite early tomorrow, wouldn’t you? The way they defend they don’t ask their full-back to close, so he has to do less tackling in the way they defend than other sides do, but our strategy won’t change how we get out of our own half of the field, and he’ll have pressure to catch some high balls.
“He’s a very talented player, he could kill it tomorrow at full-back and that could be his new position for the rest of the season at Glasgow. But I would expect he’ll be under pressure in the game for obvious reasons.”
Cockerill is intrigued at Fagerson at open-side in a back row with Ryan Wilson and Rob Harley and whether “they’re the ball hunters and stealers that maybe are strong in areas where the new interpretations of the law are going to be”, but he reckons it’ll be two quality teams going at it.
Over at Glasgow, Wilson has had to get a week-long loan from Scarlets for reserve loose-head Dylan Evans and admits that Jones at 15 is “needs must” but added the player has been enthusiastic, has a good kicking game and it had gone well in training.
“It is an experiment for us, there’s no doubt about that, but we will see how it goes,” added the coach.
“Huw is really excited about it, and that’s what pushed us in this direction. We played with it early on in training, he really took to it and enjoyed it. We’re not asking him to do something he is not motivated to do.”
Fagerson is “one of the best jackallers we’ve got in the squad, if you go over his numbers and his contact area work” added Wilson.
“We know that Edinburgh have real strength in that area – Hamish Watson is outstanding over the ball, as is Luke Crosbie. So, there are threats there that we have got to deal with.
“Maybe as a squad that is a skillset we want to develop further,” he conceded.
The new head coach’s attitude to the present situation is simple enough.
“None of us – right across rugby – are quite in the same situation as we were six months ago,” he pointed out. “Things have changed dramatically and we’ve got two choices, haven’t we? We either moan about it or we get on with it.
“And there will probably be further development on (signings) in the future, but for now those are the constraints we are in, and there are still some good rugby players at this club.”