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Damien Hoyland admits Edinburgh exit ‘not sunk in yet’

By PA
Edinburgh's Damian Hoyland during a United Rugby Championship match between Edinburgh Rugby and Leinster Rugby at the DAM Health Stadium, on March 04, 2023, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ewan Bootman/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Damien Hoyland admitted it had not sunk in that he played his last home game for Edinburgh after signing off in style.

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It was the perfect send-off for winger Hoyland plus head coach Mike Blair and replacement scrum-half Henry Pyrgos as Edinburgh scored five first-half tries against Ospreys.

Hoyland was handed a farewell start in the 45-21 BKT United Rugby Championship encounter on Saturday night eight days after it was announced he was leaving at the end of the season, along with the likes of Blair and Pyrgos.

Hoyland said in a club video: “It’s weird, it has not really sunk in yet.

“I have been here nine years and ever since I have been here, I have obviously been on the touchline so I have had the fans in my ear all the time, always shouting their support. The guys have continuously supported us for the last nine years.

“I can’t describe how grateful I am. It hasn’t sunk in yet but I am fortunate to have done what I have done with this club and to play with the guys. I have made so many good mates, best mates.

“It’s a strange one, it’s not sunk in, but thanks to everyone.”

Hoyland was delighted the team found their form on such an important occasion for him and others.

“It was awesome,” the 29-year-old said. “We are really happy that in our last home game of the season we won with a bit of style. We are glad we gave the fans something to cheer about.

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“The energy from all the lads, playing for the fans, playing for the guys that are leaving, the energy was there in abundance.”

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fl 29 minutes ago
‘The problem with this year’s Champions Cup? Too many English clubs’

"Right, so even if they were the 4 worst teams in Champions Cup, you'd still have them back by default?"

I think (i) this would literally never happen, (ii) it technically couldn't quite happen, given at least 1 team would qualify via the challenge cup, so if the actual worst team in the CC qualified it would have to be because they did really well after being knocked down to the challenge cup.

But the 13th-15th teams could qualify and to be fair I didn't think about this as a possibility. I don't think a team should be able to qualify via the Champions Cup if they finish last in their group.


Overall though I like my idea best because my thinking is, each league should get a few qualification spots, and then the rest of the spots should go to the next best teams who have proven an ability to be competitive in the champions cup. The elite French clubs generally make up the bulk of the semi-final spots, but that doesn't (necessarily) mean that the 5th-8th best French clubs would be competitive in a slimmed down champions cup. The CC is always going to be really great competition from the semis onwards, but the issue is that there are some pretty poor showings in the earlier rounds. Reducing the number of teams would help a little bit, but we could improve things further by (i) ensuring that the on-paper "worst" teams in the competition have a track record of performing well in the CC, and (ii) by incentivising teams to prioritise the competition. Teams that have a chance to win the whole thing will always be incentivised to do that, but my system would incentivise teams with no chance of making the final to at least try to win a few group stage matches.


"I'm afraid to say"

Its christmas time; there's no need to be afraid!

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