Continuity and conservatism: inside Sean Everitt's new Edinburgh Rugby deal

The deal saw Everitt promoted from ‘senior coach’ to ‘head coach’ and was accompanied by a glowing testimony from Doug Struth, the club’s managing director. “I think our fans should be very excited for the future,” said Struth.

Fast forward almost exactly two years to the day and Everitt has again been given a new contract, tying him to the club until the end of the 2027-28 season.

This time around, Edinburgh are 10th, have just lost back-to-back games to Glasgow and face a crucial match against Bath away on Friday in the Investec Champions Cup. Signs of progress are difficult to discern and if they don’t make it through to the last 16 the contract renewal will look at best premature.

It’s fair to say the decision to keep faith with Everitt has not been universally welcomed. Social media may not be the most accurate bellwether but the coach would be advised to stay off Twitter and Facebook this week. Proclamations about not renewing season tickets are not hard to find and if supporters follow through on those threats it will be a concern for Struth.

Final leg of the ‘trifecta’

Nevertheless, the hierarchy at Murrayfield has decided to stick with Everitt, thus completing the final leg of the “trifecta” David Nucifora spoke of back in September when he announced new contracts for Gregor Townsend and Franco Smith as head coaches of Scotland and Glasgow, respectively.

Nucifora, hired in 2024 as a performance director consultant, now calls the shots alongside Alex Williamson, the Scottish Rugby chief executive. Williamson, a year in the job, has made no secret of the fact he favours continuity in key roles. Whether that comes down to an innate conservatism or a desire to see for himself what the incumbents can do is open to question.

The emphasis now is on native talent and that’s how Everitt’s new contract is being sold. Nucifora was brought in “to provide a roadmap for the next decade of player development” and Everitt says bringing through bright young things is one of his strengths, citing the examples this season of Liam McConnell and Freddy Douglas.

McConnell has been immense, playing in all of Edinburgh’s games and making his Scotland debut in November against the USA. Douglas, a year younger at 20, had a slower start to the campaign but was the star-man in the victory over Gloucester last week, winning a remarkable five turnover penalties.

It’s behind the scrum that Everitt’s problems lie. Despite having Scotland’s leading two try-scorers in Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham, Edinburgh don’t seem to be able to get the best out of their star wingers. Van der Merwe in particular struggles in an Edinburgh jersey and has scored one solitary try for the club in a season compromised by niggling injuries.

Supporters want more

A lack of creativity has blighted Edinburgh but they haven’t lacked for guts, bouncing back from the defeats by Glasgow with hard-fought wins over Benetton and Gloucester this month.

The supporters want more, and rightly so. Everitt’s first season fizzled out after the 2024 contract extension. Edinburgh finished 10th, missing out on the URC play-offs and losing in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup. Season two under Everitt was much improved, with Edinburgh finishing strongly to make the play-offs before losing narrowly to the Bulls in the quarter-finals. They also went one step further in the Challenge Cup before going down to Bath in the semis.

Edinburgh fans want the progress to continue, particularly when they see the strides being made by Glasgow under Smith. But the capital side are facing a tough run of fixtures, starting with the Euro tie against the English champions at the Rec. Their next half-dozen games in the URC see them take on heavyweights the Bulls and Leinster before matches against Scarlets and Ulster and then a trip to South Africa to face the Lions and Stormers.

Making the play-offs is going to be tough and the Champions Cup may be what saves Edinburgh’s season which makes Everitt’s decision to rest key players for the Bath game hard to understand. They have left out captain Magnus Bradbury, Scotland prop Pierre Schoeman, Wes Goosen and McConnell. Edinburgh can lose and still qualify for the last 16 if other results go their way but it’s a risky strategy.

Were they to exit the Champions Cup this weekend, Everitt would be left with much to prove across the remainder of the campaign to justify Murrayfield’s show of faith.