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1872 Cup Leg II: Edinburgh Player Ratings

Henry Pyrgos
Henry Pyrgos - Glasgow Warriors vs Edinburgh Rugby in the 2nd Round of the 1872 Cup at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow. © Alastair Ross / Novantae Photography

Another week, another fairly sluggish 1872 Cup fixture. Edinburgh were once again the side with the fire in their bellies and able to direct it better to affect the results on the scoreboard. Here are my ratings:

Forwards

Rated on Attack, Defence, Breakdown and Set Piece

1. Pierre Schoeman: A damn shame he's still a good few years off qualification - he's like a hybrid of Gordy Reid in the scrum and Dell in the loose but arguably better than both. Was part of a huge Edinburgh front row effort in a game that saw plenty of scrums. - (A8/D8/B7/S9) Overall: 8/10

2. Stuart McInally: Had one of his good games, which luckily for Edinburgh and Scotland fans seem to be the norm these days. He's a very dynamic runner and only lost 1 lineout. The impact he had contrasted heavily with the absence of Fraser Brown for Glasgow. - (A9/D7/B7/S8) Overall: 8/10

3. WP Nel: A few scrum decisions went against them but when the yellow card came it was only going one way. Quieter in the loose but when the scrum is doing its job there can be few complaints. Setting himself up nicely for the year ahead on current form. - (A6/D8/B6/S9) Overall: 7.5/10

4. Ben Toolis: Goes about his work well around the park but despite the mane of hair a lot of his work may be unseen. Had had a couple of nice breaks that got the visitors on the front foot. - (A7/D7/B6/S6) Overall: 6.5/10

5. Grant Gilchrist: Struggled to punch holes in the defensive line but made up for it with a big defensive effort. Was turned over a couple of times in mauls coming off the back of the lineout which marred a mostly solid lineout effort. - (A5/D8/B6/S5) Overall: 6/10

6. Jamie Ritchie: The quietest of the Edinburgh back row but not difficult given his colleagues. No missed tackles and plenty of carrying - though not perhaps as noticeable as Watson - rounded off a decent game. - (A7/D7/B6/S5) Overall: 6.5/10

7. Hamish Watson: Beat the most defenders and put in 13 tackles without missing any. Another big game from Watson. When he and Rambo are playing well, this team are very hard to beat. - (A8/D8/B8/S7) Overall: 8/10

8. Bill Mata: Not as many crowd-pleasing carries but still very effective at providing a burst of impetus just when it is needed. Did get turned over in contact a few times. - (A8/D7/B4/S7) Overall: 6.5/10

Backs

Rated on Attack, Defence, Breakdown and Influence

9. Henry Pyrgos: Ran the game well for Edinburgh. Box kicks were effective and well chased by his teammates. Will probably have quite enjoyed his return to Scotstoun. - (A6/D7/B6/I7) Overall: 6.5/10

10. Jaco Van Der Walt: Kicked all his points, and aside from one silly penalty he did what was expected in moving the ball around the park. - (A7/D7/B6/I8) Overall: 7/10

11. Duhan Van Der Merwe: No tries handed to him on plates this week but it was fun watching him taking on Hoggy 1-on-1 a few times (Hoggy won, just). - (A7/D6/B5/I6) Overall: 6/10

12. Chris Dean: Only played a half and it was a pretty quiet one. Possibly carrying an injury. - (A6/D7/B6/I5) Overall: 6/10

13. James Johnstone: Didn't get much ball in hand, which is a shame given his rapid feet but is also an important part of the defensive line. - (A6/D7/B6/I6) Overall: 6.5/10

14. Darcy Graham: Another good effort but was well shackled and like Kinghorn, has struggled to really get into space and get up to top speed these last few games. - (A8/D6/B6/I6) Overall: 6.5/10

15. Blair Kinghorn: Often plays a distributing role if this Edinburgh attack cut loose and only made a few runs, but only having to make 2 tackles from fullback shows how untroubled the defence were with the first up line executing their tackles very well. - (A8/D7/B6/I5) Overall: 6.5/10

Replacements

Rated on Attack, Defence, Breakdown and Impact

16. Dave Cherry: Only on for the last 6 minutes. Rambo had done his job meaning there was little left for Cherry to do by that point. - (A6/D5/B6/I5) Overall: 5.5/10

17. Allan Dell: Struggled to make an impression - Schoeman was a hard act to follow if he's on that sort of form. - (A6/D6/B6/I6) Overall: 6/10

18. Simon Berghan: No penalties in the scrum, but not much to write home about. - (A6/D6/B6/I6) Overall: 6/10

19. Callum Hunter Hill: Only on for 6 minutes, so had little impact. - (A6/D6/B6/I6) Overall: 6/10

20. Luke Crosbie: Good to see him back fit but didn't get much chance to contribute. - (A6/D5/B6/I6) Overall: 6/10

21. Nathan Fowles: Played the last 12 minutes. No mishaps. - (A6/D6/B6/I6) Overall: 6/10

22. Simon Hickey: Not used - (A0/D0/B0/I0) Overall: 0/10

23. Juan Pablo Socino: The only one of the replacements to get any great game time, the Argentinean played the whole second half. Solid defence and helped with a couple of clearance kicks. - (A7/D7/B6/I5) Overall: 6.5/10

Stats via http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/playerstats?gameId=293317&league=270557

Happy NewYear everyone!

12 responses

  1. Both locks were superb and warrant higher ratings than that in my opinion. Otherwise seems a fair appraisal.

  2. Agree about the locks – both put in big shifts. And if these are the winning teams scores, what are Glasgow’s going to be like !

    1. We’ll have to wait and see if Iain comes out of his misery cave for those! Interesting about the locks, I had Gilcho marked down for a couple of maul turnovers which affected his score negatively then on reflection of the stats his tackle numbers were actually better than Toolis so I had to balance them a bit. I hummed and hawed about it.

  3. Totally off topic here-but unable to resist-did anyone else watch Jonny Sextons response to a slightly late tackle in the Munster / Leinster game? Ripped off the tacklers scrum cap then started beating him over the head with it as he was being put down to ground by the tackler. Nearly choked on my porridge with laughter. I think the ref got it about right-penalty against Sexton-but what an ill tempered game and the sanctions could have been arguably much worse. Made the Glasgow / Edinburgh handbags seem tame.

    1. Sexton now thinks he is an untouchable and should not be touched/tackled etc or the toys are out of the pram

      1. Well given that he was -I think -Captain for that game it did seem a bit out of keeping. It would annoy me seeing Finn get clattered like that so maybe the Irish have a point but it does seem to have gone a bit OTT-“you cannot tackle the blessed St Jonny”

    2. I would have been happy if he’d been YCed. He’s a prat on the field in general and a YC probably would have reduced the subsequent shenanigans.

      1. The tackler clearly got it wrong, he should be ashamed of himself, ashamed I say.

        If you are going to late tackle sexton, immobilise him for the rest of the game. The game is going soft, putting up with the likes of that whining wain. The pair of them need a Bog wash.

  4. To be fair to the tackler, if he had gone in full tilt, Sexton would have been in the West stand. I swear if you watch the video in slow motion the tackler has got a slight glint of amusement in his eye. He put Sexton down fairly gently otherwise Sexton would have been unable to rip off the scrum cap.

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