THE DOG BOWL SHIELD
Edinburgh with the spoils in winner-takes-all 1872 Cup, Scotland Sevens impress (Men and Women) and Super 6 continues apace
WELCOME: well there it is, the moment we have all been waiting for, some would say forever - we have a winner of the inaugural Italian Scottish Shield. Just a shame the trophy itself looks a bit like a bronze dogbowl. There was a lot more to play for on Saturday than just a newly minted trophy - a ‘kinder’ URC quarter final, Champions Cup rugby next year, and the winner of the 1 millionth edition of the 1872 Cup. Edinburgh were on paper and form the favourites heading into the big decider, and so it proved on the day, the men from the capital running out comfortable winners. And while the Mike Blair narrative continues its upward trajectory, there are big questions around Glasgow, and in particular their head coach Danny Wilson. Elsewhere this week both the Womans’ and Mens’ Sevens sides recorded historic victories at the Toulouse 7s, the Super Six returned and Eddie Jones continues to try to steal Scots qualified players.
THE FINAL CHAPTER: Edinburgh secured the 1872 Cup, Champions Cup qualification for next season and the inaugural Italian-Scottish Shield with Saturday’s 28-11 victory over Glasgow at BT Murrayfield. Edinburgh were slight favourites going into this winner-takes-all clash, but we know from previous seasons that - to tread a well-worn cliche - form can go out of the window in these derby clashes. Yet in the end they had far too much, both up front and out wide, for a Glasgow side plagued by cheap errors and sloppy discipline.
The match started in true 1872 cup fashion: as scrappy as Ryan Wilson in BBQ Kings, circa 2015. The commentators described the opening period as “each team figuring each other out” - semantics for silly errors and lack of continuity. Boffeli, continuing his quest for the keys to the city, opened the scoring with a penalty after fifteen minutes, which was soon cancelled out by three points from Ross Thompson. However the home side were looking the more dangerous in attack, and soon profited when Blair Kinghorn stretched over the line after good work from Darcy Graham. Thompson and Boffeli then traded penalties before half time, with Edinburgh taking a 13-6 lead into the sheds.
Despite Blair delivering what he admitted was his “worst half time speech ever”, his charges took control of the match early in the second half. Luke Crosbie (in impressive form since his recent return from injury) bullocked his way up the field to give his side prime field position, before a beautiful no-look pass from the Thistle’s own Sweet Prince, that man Chris Dean, sent Magnus Bradbury over for the try.
Glasgow’s indiscipline continued to cost them, Rob Harley sent to the sin bin after some dumb play at ruck time, which allowed Boffeli to further the Edinburgh lead. Damien Hoyland added the decisive score soon after, getting on the end of good work from Bennett and Kinghorn. Glasgow did threaten to spoil the party things when Ollie Smith - one of the few bright sparks for the visitors on the day - got on the end of a well judged cross kick from substitute Domingo Miotti (begging the question of why he has seldom featured this season), but the all important 13 point gap was too far to bridge in the end.
Full highlights below:
QUARTER FINALS: Edinburgh now have a return trip to South Africa to take on the Stormers in two weeks’ time. The South African sides have improved hugely as the season has progressed, yet Edinburgh should be quietly confident of getting a result - momentum is on their side and they have proven they can win in South Africa this year. Meanwhile Glasgow have the consolation of a trip to the RDS to face Leinster. Leave it to Kevin McLeod to express our feelings on that match up:
WILSON OUT? A poll on our Twitter yesterday asking whether Danny Wilson should remain as head coach for next season received a clear response, with 81% of respondents believing his time in the hot seat is up (for those worried about sample size etc, the poll received over 900 votes - sure, we are a big deal). The belief amongst Warriors fans that his initial appointment was something of a cost cutting exercise by the SRU, rather than looking for the best man possible for the job, is in some respects being proved true. On top of the weekend’s 1872 defeat, Glasgow have faded badly towards the end of this season - see Lyon, Cardiff, Bulls, Stormers for similarly sapping defeats. Rugby is still thankfully free of football-style firings, and we should remember that Wilson has not had much time in the job, and has toiled during an at times extremely difficult period for his club and the sport in general. Amidst these difficulties his side are still (technically) involved in the URC and were in the top five of the league for the first half of the year. He has also inherited an ageing squad where too many of his senior players appear long in the tooth rather than experienced campaigners. There are perhaps no obvious candidates to come into the role, but the clamour for change appears to be growing.
PRO TEAMS SIGNINGS: there was plenty of signing news last week as the pro teams continue to shape their squads for next season. Perhaps the most exciting was the return of Huw Jones to Glasgow, after just a season down south with Harlequins. Presumably the carrot of a World Cup for the national side was enough of a pull for a player quietly making a name for himself down south - although Jones did highlight his close friendship with former Stormers teammate Oli Kebble as part of the draw. While Wilson has prioritized strengthening his forward pack, Jones will add undoubted class to an already potent Glasgow backline. Yet is there an argument that his wage could have been budgeted elsewhere? The older heads in the Warriors older pack - Harley (admittedly departing), Wilson, Gray, Brown etc - have failed to fire this season. Would a few more gnarled forwards (maybe some more nasty Saffas) be the solution to this?
Meanwhile at Edinburgh, there were new deals for Pierre Schoeman and Mark Bennett. Schoeman has been simply outstanding for the capital side since his arrival in 2018, proving a model of consistency in the URC and impressing in both European and international action (as the stats below show). Approaching contract negotiations there must have been interest from the likes of England and France, so capturing ‘The Greatest Schoeman’ on a “long-term deal” is a real coup for Mike Blair’s men.
Although Bennett had a fairly slow start to his Edinburgh career, mainly due to injury, he has been on top form this season, liberated by Blair’s more open style of play. At his best Bennett has all the attributes of a top international centre - pace to burn, the strength to shrug off the tackle and an unappreciated kicking game - which has seen a richly deserved return to the international scene for Cumnock’s favourite son. He also appears to be an ideal role model for Edinburgh’s fledgling centres - Hutchison, Currie etc.
SCOTLAND SEVENS: both the Mens and Womens sides were in action in the France leg of the HSBC Sevens Series, and it was the latter that impressed the most, recording an historic victory over England on their way to securing an 9th place finish. This was the Womens’ first appearance on the circuit this year, and they showed everyone watching just exactly what they had been missing. Their eventual standing, and especially the win over the English, was made more remarkable by the fact they had lost their three opening fixtures in the tournament, to New Zealand, Canada and Spain. But the fans were rewarded with that historic win, Shona Campbell (2) and Rhona Lloyd crossing to secure the famous result, before the side defeated South Africa in their final play off match. Let’s leave it to Scotland flyer Lloyd, once again on coruscating form, to sum up the side’s emotions on the day:
Meanwhile the Men improved on recent showings despite a similarly underwhelming start, finishing in 10th place after defeat in their final play off to New Zealand. Their best result came in the prior match with victory over the South Africans. Jordan Edmunds and Jamie Farndale were once again the danger men for the Scots, yet the highlight of the weekend as a whole was surely Kaleem Barreto’s outrageous pass below:
ARUNDELL, DINGWALL OFF? There is little current England coach Eddie Jones loves more than trolling other rugby nations - and he was at it again last week, naming former Scotland age grade cap Fraser Dingwall and new golden boy (and Scots-qualified) Henry Arundell in his lastest England squad. Come on son, the Premiership has 13 professional teams; we’re working with just the two up here. In all seriousness, Dingwall has been part of England training squads in the past, and has so far professed no desire to play for Scotland (despite, we’re hoping, the best efforts of Saints team mate Rory Hutchinson), while Arundell has only played for England rep sides and has never been openly courted by the Scotland system. Still, it would be excellent narrative for Dingwall and Arundell to train with but not be capped by England, and to feature for Scotland down the line - Cam Redpath anyone?
SUPER 6 SPRINT: the weekend saw the final fixtures of the pre-split section of this year’s Super 6 sprint. Once again each match was a close fought affair, with even the struggling Southern Knights putting in a battling performance. Watsonians narrow 29-26 victory over the Ayrshire Bulls at Millbrae was perhaps the best fixture of the tournament so far, the intensity far higher than that of its Premiership predecessor and perhaps not a million miles away from the fully professional level - even The Offside Line described it as “potentially the future of Scottish rugby”. It also demonstrated the value of older players (the likes of Ian Moody and Lee Millar for Watsonians and Blair McPherson for Ayr) in raising the standards of the competition, despite the increasingly unlikely odds of these players featuring for an Edinburgh or Glasgow.
Stirling County burnished their title winning credentials with a 47-25 victory over Heriots at Bridgehaugh. Although County once again boasted strong Warriors representation - Walter Fifita, Ratu Tagive and Sean Kennedy all featuring - Ben Cairns has built a side based on young Scottish talent. Kennedy is also a product of the County rugby nursery, so it is difficult to criticise too harshly.
On Friday night the Boroughmuir Bears recorded back to back bonus point victories with their 31-18 win over the Knights, the ever reliable Robbie McCallum - whose combative nature and all round skill set should be further tested at one of the pro sides - crossing for two tries.
SCOTS ABROAD:
Gallagher Premiership
Bristol v Exeter: v Jonny Gray (4), Sam Skinner (5) and Stuart Hogg (15)
Wasps v Sale: Robin Hislop (16) and Elliot Millar Mills (17) v Tom Roebuck (14), Ewan Ashman (16) and Gus Warr (21)
Bath v London Irish: v Kyle Rowe (14), Ben White (22) and Henry Arundell (23) - Arundell hasn’t been capped for England yet!
Harlequins v Gloucester: Huw Jones (15) v Charlie Chapman (9), Adam Hastings (10), Chris Harris (13) and Andrew Davidson (19) - Mr Consistent Harris crossing for the visitors.
Newcastle v Leicester: Gary Graham (6) v Cammy Henderson (19) and Matt Scott (23) - great to see Henderson back in action after a spell out with injury.
Saracens v Northampton: Callum Hunter-Hill (19) and Duncan Taylor (23) v Fraser Dingwall (12) and Rory Hutchinson (22) - still time to change your mind Fraser…
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