Axed Nel in Cockerill’s bad books

EDINBuRGH head coach Richard Cockerill last night called on prop WP Nel to buck up his ideas as he axed the Scotland star from the squad to take on Scarlets today.

Promising to pick on form rather than reputation as he bids to guide Edinburgh into the Guinness Pro14 play-offs, Cockerill criticised Nel for his ‘poor contribution’ in ‘defence and attack’ in recent matches.

‘WP has been dropped,’ said Cockerill. ‘He has not played well enough and Simon Berghan has been very good every week and starts against Scarlets. Murray McCallum, who has been good, too, comes on to the bench in place of WP.

‘WP’s contribution is very good at the scrum but his contribution around the field, both in attack and defence, has been poor. He is not doing enough to keep himself in the squad.

‘We have players who have been given opportunities, others who have come back from Test duty. We have competition for places and you have to pick on form and not just reputation.’

Cockerill has also axed Scotland international fly-half Duncan Weir plus centres Mark Bennett and Phil Burleigh, with all three paying the price for poor performances in the defeat to ulster last weekend.

Bennett and Weir are demoted to the bench, with Burleigh dropping out the squad completely.

‘We had to make changes in the back division,’ said the Edinburgh head coach. ‘Duncan had his opportunity against ulster but didn’t take it. Same with Phil Burleigh. Both of them were defensively poor.

‘Mark Bennett has commanded the centre position for the last ten games but, on form, James Johnstone deserves the opportunity to start in front of Mark. Jaco van der Walt comes in for Duncan and Chris Dean for Phil Burleigh.’

Cockerill also warned his team against complacency ahead of their Pro14 clash with Scarlets.

With one eye on their European Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster in Dublin next weekend, the Welsh outfit have rested 13 of their regular first XV, including Scotland captain John Barclay.

Others given the weekend off include Welsh internationals Leigh Halfpenny, Hadleigh Parkes, Rhys Patchell, Aaron Shingler, Rob Evans, Ken Owens and Samson Lee.

The reigning Pro14 champions are all but guaranteed a place in the play-offs with two games left but Edinburgh may need to win both of theirs to make sure.

That puts more pressure on Cockerill and his team than the visitors, who he believes remain dangerous despite their missing stars.

‘There are a lot of changes in their side but it’s still a side that has got some quality in it,’ said the Edinburgh head coach. ‘They didn’t become current league champions by being just 15 players.

‘We have to be at our best to beat them and can’t drop our standards or think we are better.’

Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac admitted he has rested his top players to keep them injury-free ahead of next weekend’s European semi-final.

‘This is uncharted waters for us but something we are not shying away from,’ said Pivac. ‘This is a real test of the squad depth.

‘To be able to get as far as the European semi-final and maintain a top-three position in our Pro14 conference at the same time has been the challenge and we are very pleased to have done that.’