WE’LL GET A KICK OUT OF BLAIR’S RETURN
Edinburgh banking on key man Kinghorn
EdINBurgH head coach Mike Blair believes Blair Kinghorn’s kicking skills could give his side a vital edge against the Stormers in Cape Town today. The fly-half missed the narrow 33-31 loss to the Bulls last weekend through illness but comes back into the starting line-up for the first time this season against the united rugby Championship title holders.
Edinburgh full-back Henry Immelman missed a last-minute penalty that would have secured a famous win over the Bulls in Pretoria last Saturday, while centre Mark Bennett also missed a few earlier kicks in the two-point defeat.
Blair believes Kinghorn’s proficiency with the boot will give Edinburgh added confidence they can cause an upset in South Africa.
‘Mark Bennett did kick a conversion from the touchline against the Bulls and the other kick he took hit the post, and we got seven instead of three points out of it,’ said Blair.
‘It had an effect on the result because, had we kicked either of those goals we would have won the game, but those were tough kicks, one from 47/48 metres on the angle and the other one was from 52/53 metres, so they weren’t easy.
‘Potentially, we could have gone to the corner with about six minutes to go to keep the squeeze on the Bulls and obviously kicking goals is a vitally important part of the game, so we need to get high percentages on that. I believe Blair has got a lot of confidence in his kicking and he’s more than equipped to take on that responsibility against the Stormers. Having Blair back, who is an international ten, and the skillset and belief he brings to the group is crucially important for us.’
Blair said his side will go into the game against the defending champions as underdogs, with the Stormers likely to be at near full strength for the match.
‘The Stormers are the favourites in the game, having won the competition last year and they are able to field most of their Springboks,’ he said. ‘They didn’t play at the Cape Town Stadium last week, they played at Stellenbosch and this is their first game back at home in the new season as champions, so they will be really motivated for this one.
‘In saying that, this is a great opportunity for us to show our growth, show where we’re at, and I believe we have a really strong squad this year and the guys are in a position to perform well.
‘Taking on the Bulls at Loftus last weekend was a challenge we attacked head on. We face another huge challenge against the Stormers but it is one we are relishing.’
The Edinburgh head coach has kept faith in the vast majority of his back division that ran the Bulls so close last weekend. In the pack, former captain Stuart McInally takes over from david Cherry at hooker. Nick Haining and Hamish Watson, both of whom started on the bench last weekend, replace Viliame Mata and Luke Crosbie in the back row.
‘I believe you get good results out of cohesion, so keeping these guys together means we have players understanding what guys are doing and we also believe we have guys who can come on and make an impact from the bench,’ added Blair.
‘our front five is international class. on the bench we have Boan Venter. The game against the Bulls was his first game in four or five months and we expect him to step up again this week. We are giving these guys opportunities to get games together but we have some quality to bring off the bench as well. We have a disjointed season in terms of what players we have available to us during the autumn internationals, so we aim to plan getting the most out of the guys while they’re here. But we also reward players who deserved it through the way they trained.
‘We must make sure that when players go off to internationals, the players left at the club are in a position to be able to step up in what potentially could be the most crucial part of the season.
‘That’s why we’re not afraid to give guys game time in Super6 and we have Paddy Harrison and Jamie Jack on loan to London Irish. We want to keep guys up to speed so that when their chance comes, they are ready to go.’
off the field, Blair said he was waiting to see what happened at Worcester Warriors, the club that has gone into administration.
He is keen to sign winger duhan van der Merwe and, although prop rory Sutherland is also on his radar, glasgow Warriors is likely to be his destination if he moves north.
‘It is a difficult situation for us,’ said Blair. ‘What is happening at Worcester is so fluid. First and foremost, we want the club to survive, the players to keep their contracts and the management to keep the club going.’ Kick-off: 1pm, DHL Stadium. TV: LIVE on Premier Sports 1. EDINBURGH: Immelman; Graham, Bennett, Lang, Hoyland; Kinghorn, Vellacott; Schoeman, McInally, Nel, Skinner, Gilchrist, Ritchie, Watson, Haining. Replacements: Cherry, Venter, De Bruin, Young, Muncaster, Pyrgos, Savala, Dean.