Currie issues challenge to Edinburgh over form
Young centre urges team- mates to maintain standard set in rampant second- half against Bayonne
MATT CURRIE has challenged Edinburgh to maintain the standards of their second- half performance against Bayonne after a frustrating two weeks in South Africa.
The 23- year- old helped inspire his side to victory with an excellent try at the start of the second half and it was a strong performance from the young centre alongside veteran Mark Bennett.
Currie’s try at the beginning of the second period came after a difficult first half when Edinburgh were unable to get the advantage on the scoresheet despite mos t ly dominating.
It was 7- 5 to the visitors at the break, but Currie burst through Bayonne players like they were not there, on his way to putting Edinburgh in front, and they kept up that standard for the rest of the half.
Now he wants to see it on a regular basis as they enter the latter stages of the season in the URC and look to keep their Challenge Cup run going.
Back- to- back defeats in South Africa against Stormers and Sharks have left them sitting outside the play- offs ahead of the run- in, but Currie believes if they keep playing the way they did in the second half they will be fine.
He said: “We felt in the first half that we were on top. The scoreboard didn’t show it, but we played some decent rugby and we felt we had the momentum so we just said to keep going and playing our game and hopefully the scoreboard reflects it and it did in the end.
“The past two weeks in South Africa we didn’t get the wins we wanted so coming into this game it was massive for us as a team to show what we’re about and how we want to perform. We did it in parts.
“They came at us a lot in the first half and threw the ball around which we didn’t deal with as well as we could have, and second half was about building momentum and getting on top and we did that pretty well.
“It’s something we needed. We’ve said that’s our base and we don’t drop below that now, we have to keep building.
“We go towards the end of the season and we need to get wins and bonus points so it was good to get that, even though it doesn’t count in terms of that competition, but it was good to get the win and hopefully we can build on it.”
Currie is playing the most rugby of his career this season and has been helped by coach Sean Everitt testing him at inside and outside centre.
He has been able to switch between positions seamlessly and is proving himself to be a huge asset to the side, even if he was not sure about moving from his more regular position at 13 to 12. Getting help from Bennett has helped him though and he is delighted to be lining up alongside the centurion.
He added: “I feel since school I’ve not had a massive run of rugby which is quite important when you’re developing as a player.
“This season has been really good. I’ve been flip- flopping between 12 and 13 which I’ve enjoyed and learning different positions and game management kind of things. I want to work on it, but I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to play as much as I have so far.
“At the start of the season when I got moved to 12 I didn’t really know the motive behind it, but I think it has been really good for my rugby. I’ve enjoyed the change. You get your hands on the ball, particularly at the set- piece, so I’ve enjoyed it and hopefully I can continue to be versatile.
“Mark Bennett is some player. When I first came to Edinburgh he was really good with me and we were competing at 13 but now playing alongside him is pretty cool. He’s got that experience and turn of pace that is unbelievable. It’s good to have him outside you.”
Scotland head off to the Americas in the summer and many expect it to be more of a younger squad who travel with coach Gregor Townsend.
It is an opportunity to discover if they are capable of making the step up to international Test matches and Currie is a name who has been mentioned as being one of those who may go, but he is not thinking about it just yet.
“I’d love the opportunity to go on it, it would be a really cool experience, but obviously I want to focus on my rugby at Edinburgh at the minute and keep improving and go from game to game here,” he said.
In South Africa we didn’t get the wins we wanted so it was massive for us as a team to show what we’re about and how we want to perform
situation and I thought they did much better with regards to that and it just makes life a lot easier.”
Ben Vellacott scored two tries but he took a sore hit after scoring the first, with Yan Lestrade shown a yellow card for his hit on the head of the Edinburgh scrum- half.
There was some concern for Vellacott after such a big hit but Everitt dismissed any concerns and was delighted with how he performed.
He said: “He’s okay. It was dangerous play and you don’t want to lose a player after he’s scored a try like that, but I thought the ref handled it well so no complaints.
“It’s good to see him getting some time on the field. He’s had four starts in a row now and it helps build confidence. It also helps Gilco [ Grant Gilchrist] coming back with the captaincy.
“He was really sharp with the [ first] try he scored and also very clever with the second one when the forwards were picking and going.”