The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
No need to go back to square one
The season: In retrospect, Edinburgh’s desperate malaise this season might be traced as far back as Christmas 2015, coincidentally the last time the club troubled the top six of the PRO12, writes Steve Scott.
It was then that veteran head coach Alan Solomons was given a year’s extension – a puzzling decision at the time as it seemed the succession to Duncan Hodge as head coach had been pre-ordained.
Solomons had taken the club to a European Challenge Cup final but hadn’t moved them forward nearly enough during his three-year tenure.
The hastiness of that decision was underlined as Edinburgh collapsed in the second half of last season – not coincidentally when their leading players were off with Scotland – and then Solomons was finally shown the door after just four games of the 2016-17 campaign.
There was a brief lift under Hodge (although that spell included the humiliation of a first ever home defeat to Zebre) before they embarked on a ninegame losing streak which only ended in last week’s astonishing last-gasp comeback over Dragons.
That was also the club’s first league win since the move from Murrayfield to Myreside, and most of the potential fillip for them moving to the smaller and more atmospheric facility has largely been wasted.
Edinburgh had bad luck with injuries, specifically to front row stalwarts Ali Dickinson and WP Nel, to fellow Scotland internationalist John Hardie, and big Kiwi Nasi Manu. But too often the team looked rudderless and lacking in leadership – witness how many times a second-half rearguard action was required when issues had to be sorted in the half-time team talk rather than on the pitch.
The club’s few summer additions made little or no impact. Duncan Weir and Glenn Bryce struggled to adjust moving along the M8 out of Glasgow’s more coherent squad system and Junior Rasolea barely played.
In addition, Grant Gilchrist and Cornell du Preez, key men in the pack, struggled for form after returning from serious injury.
The few bright spots? Ben Toolis’s industry, Magnus Bradbury’s continuing development until he was derailed by a calf injury, Hamish Watson being a oneman wrecking crew and becoming a Scotland regular, and some flashes of footwork from centre Chris Dean.
Beating Harlequins home and away and Stade Francais at Murrayfield in the Challenge Cup was maybe the playing highlight, but one always wonders at the enthusiasm for English and French clubs for the secondary European tournament.
The table shows Edinburgh finishing ninth in the PRO12 for a second season in a row, but they have won just five games, fewer than half the number of a year ago, conceding 20 more tries and more than 100 more points. Had they lost to the Dragons last week, as seemed likely when 80 minutes were up, they may well have finished 10th or 11th.
The future: Richard Cockerill, the former Leicester coach, comes next season with the authority – and the gumption – to wipe the slate clean and start over. But Edinburgh really shouldn’t have to go back to square one entirely.
There’s actually a very competitive pack there already with a fit Scotland front row trio, Gilchrist and du Preez hopefully returning to their best form, and Bradbury and Watson backed up by the improving Jamie Ritchie. Strength in depth was the real issue this year.
Losing Mark Bennett for probably the entire season after signing him from Glasgow was a huge blow, and the backs certainly need some attention.
Whether Weir or the mercurial Jason Tovey are really the answer at stand-off should concentrate Cockerill’s mind. Dean, Damien Hoyland and Blair Kinghorn have real potential in this unit, and youngster Darcy Graham has real wheels and finishing ability.
Given the personnel available, and a few astute additions, Edinburgh’s plight should certainly not be as parlous as this season has made it seem. Perhaps a galvanising figure at the helm like Cockerill is the best signing the club could have made.