Disappointed coach looks at bright side after defeat

HEAD COACH Sean Everitt admitted he was “very disappointed” after Edinburgh lost to his former side, Sharks in Durban, but dismissed former Scotland captain John Barclay’s assessment it was the club’s worst showing of his tenure.

Barclay, a pundit on Viaplay, slammed the performance alongside former Wales centre Tom Shanklin and former Ireland back-row Stephen Ferris.

Ferris accused the capital club of “giving up”, while Shanklin said Edinburgh “looked like a team that didn’t know how to play rugby” in the 23-13 defeat. Everitt did not agree with their assessment.

The Edinburgh head coach said: “It is very hard to play rugby when you’re chained in your own half. I wouldn’t say we are a team who can’t play rugby. I think we are a team that struggled to get territory.”

Everitt admitted his team put themselves under unnecessary pressure.

“To win you’ve got to have territory and we didn’t win that battle. We only got to fire three shots in the first half, got into the 22 once and kicked a penalty.

“At 7-3 we were still in the game and showing a fight. At 12-6 we were still in the game, and we got ascendancy in the set-piece, but we put ourselves under pressure unfortunately.”

Everitt said the squad will need to bounce back when Bayonne visit Hive Stadium in the Challenge Cup last 16 on Saturday.

“It’s a hell of a disappointment,” Everitt said of the results on tour. “We worked so hard to put ourselves in a position to compete for the top four. It’s about staying positive and understanding that we did face two good teams while we were away on this tour. “The guys are going to remain positive. We’ve just got to keep working at what’s letting us down. There’s a lot to be positive about.”