By the reaction of some, you’d think Edinburgh Rugby were staring into the abyss.
Actually, they’d just won their first league match of the season on Friday night. But the perceived failure of the capital side to burst from the cocoon of Alan Solomon’s conservative gameplan fully-formed into some spectacularly colourful butterfly has some naively frustrated.
In one aspect Edinburgh have brought this on themselves. They hinted at a pacier game based on off-loading in pre-season, before reverting to the comfort of their station-to-station, forward-based style in the two PRO12 games so far.
They’ve not exactly sparkled in the two games thus far. The wings are seeing as little of the ball as usual, there’s precious little invention. But it’s TWO GAMES.
And what did people think Edinburgh were getting when they signed Duncan Weir this summer, Carlos Spencer? Weir has his moments with ball in hand but he’s primarily the kind of control stand-off Edinburgh have needed but lacked for a decade.
They finally have a 10 that suits their pack-orientated style. The idea is that Edinburgh control territory and stop losing close games – they lost eight by a converted try or less last year, when three more wins would have had them in the top six of the PRO12.
Still some stick with the spurious comparisons with Glasgow. Give Edinburgh the same player budget the Warriors have enjoyed for years and these might be relevant.
The only relevant comparison is that Edinburgh should be using Glasgow’s team motto “Whatever It Takes”. Maybe Viliami Mata’s arrival and the move to Myreside will improve them as entertainment, but any way to win matches will do right now.
