Edinburgh coach’s shock after 45-0 demolition

FROM THE sublime to the ridiculous in just over six months?

Sport can be fickle at the best of times but Edinburgh going from a roar of acclaim on beatingToulouse in lastA pril’s Heineken Cup quarter-final to a chorus of boos after Saturday’s humiliation by Saracens at Murrayfield sets new standards.

Head coach Michael Bradley looked in semi-bemused shock even an hour after the end.

“A bit embarrassing? More than a bit,” he said.

“I can’t think of how it could have been any worse.”

Sat up in the otherwise empty second tier of the west stand at Murrayfield, Scotland’s management team of A ndy Robinson and Scott Johnson doubtless agreed as they looked on grimly.

If it was not bad enough to see Edinburgh plunge to a record 45-0 home defeat in the Heineken Cup and be effectively out of the competition that so galvanised Scottish Rugby last season after just one game, much of their projected team for theA ll Blacks test in less than a month were either hapless or hurt.

truly

Some were both. Greig Laidlaw, Scotland’s No 1 fly-half, had possibly his worst 40 minutes as a pro player, throwing loose passes and delivering aimless kicks, and stayed indoors at half-time after a heavy shoulder knock.

Tim Visser, Edinburgh and now Scotland’s premier strike weapon — he had three more tries this season that the whole of the Saracens team coming into the game — also did not emerge for the second half having suffered “severe” bruising.

A t least those two missed the capitulation that was the second half.

Scotland captain Ross Ford had another of those occasional days when he cannot hit a barn door with lineout throws.

Matt Scott was either reaching helplessly for poor passes or delivering them. David Denton and Ross Rennie, two frontline backrow caps, looked shadows of the players they were last season.

Last season we thought we finally had a Scottish team with the attitude and ability to make an impact on European rugby. Instead this was like 10 years ago, when the Scottish teams’ professional preparation was light years behind the clubs from the English Premiership.

utter

Bradley’s tacit admission it could have been worse was underlined by the fact it took Sarries more than an hour to realise Edinburgh were there for the taking.

The last four tries came in the final 20 minutes as they felt secure enough to break out of their famously conservative game.

For veteran 10 Charlie Hodgson, Murrayfield was once again a playground, following up his match-winning chargedown try in the Calcutta Cup game in February with another on Saturday, and eight of nine successful placekicks for a 25 point haul.

But the visitors needed to be little more than workmanlike to capitalise on the succession of Edinburgh mistakes. Bright spots for Edinburgh? There were a couple in

Nick De Luca’s aggressive defence and that they scrummaged well at times.

But the substitute display of Netani Talei, three times man of the match in last year’s campaign, merely underlined that he should have been on from the start.

He should start against Munster but how Bradley lifts a demoralised team for next week in Limerick is anyone’s guess, particularly as the former champions are not in the habit of losing two pool games in a row.

Racing Metro’s win at the Stade de France is ominous in other ways — the Parisians will be fully engaged for their December doubleheader against the Scots.

A fter last year’s heady heights, this year’s Heineken Cup is shaping up to be particularly sobering for Edinburgh.

Stuart McInally (right) is closed down by Saracens’ Schalk Brits and Brad Barritt.