‘Something fundamentally wrong’ - Edinburgh’s abject first half dissected by ex-Scotland captain
Capital club trailed 48-0 at break
John Barclay, the former Scotland captain, has said there is “something fundamentally wrong” at Edinburgh Rugby after they lost 55-21 to the Emirates Lions in a match in which they trailed 48-0 at half-time.
It was the capital club’s third consecutive defeat, their worst start to a season in the United Rugby Championship, and it was the manner of their performance in the opening 40 minutes that attracted some of Barclay’s most stinging criticism.
The ex-Edinburgh player was working as an analyst for Premier Sports and labelled the first-half display “an embarrassment”, “a disaster” and “humiliating” as the Lions ran in seven tries in Johannesburg. It was the biggest first-half deficit in the competition’s history.
Edinburgh did rally after the break, scoring three converted tries, but it was too little, too late.
“If you’re losing by that much at half-time it’s very hard to go out in the second half,” said Barclay. “What are the messages at half-time? It’s just as hard for the Lions in the second half. 48-0? Beers at half-time, I reckon. The game’s done and dusted, there’s nothing to play for. I think to say, ‘what did we learn from that second half about Edinburgh?’ - it's literally zero. People might say that is a bit dour but it's a club with ambition, with aspirations and with a great history and you're losing 48-0 at half-time. That to me points to something fundamentally wrong with the team. It will be a pretty bleak trip home.”
Edinburgh began the season with a narrow home loss to Leinster in which they picked up two bonus points. They then travelled to South Africa to play the Bulls in Pretoria and got another bonus point in a 22-16 defeat. But they left Johannesburg empty-handed and now face a third South Africa team, the Stormers, back in Edinburgh on Saturday.
Sean Everitt, the Edinburgh head coach, insisted he could turn things around against the Stormers but Barclay said the club was falling well short of realising its potential.
“Edinburgh are in a pretty bad spell right now given the nature of the first half,” Barclay added.
“It looks like a complete lack of clarity in their attack. We spoke about their defence pre-game, it had been good then you concede 48 points. It feels like a big puzzle to fix at the moment. I think there's panic buttons being pressed everywhere at the moment.
“It is a results-driven business. Edinburgh have been very well funded, they've got a good squad and they've brought in good players. They are missing a couple of players but that team sheet is full of internationals and that's not translating onto the pitch right now.”
Speaking after the game, Everitt admitted the first-half performance fell well short of expectations but felt sure his team would respond positively against the Stormers.
“There's no need to panic,” said Everitt. “We're in round three of the URC.
“It's been a tough start. It's a tough game coming up against the Stormers. We’ve played Leinster, we’ve played Bulls away, Lions away. We're going home to Hive to play against the Stormers, so we'll be confident that we can win at home.”
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