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Edinburgh boss Sean Everitt casts doubt over Hamish Watson's future
By Bryn Palmer
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt insists the European Challenge Cup remains a major target and he is not taking a weakened team to Gloucester despite resting seven frontline Scotland players and omitting Hamish Watson from his squad.
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Darcy Graham, Duhan van Merwe, Ali Price, Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, Grant Gilchrist and Jamie Ritchie have all been given a week off after starting last week’s URC win over Benetton on their return from autumn Test duty.
With a further European game at home to French Top 14 side Bayonne next week, followed by back-to-back URC derbies with Scottish rivals Glasgow Warriors over the festive period, Everitt wants his main men fresh for those potentially season-defining games.
In addition he revealed Watson, a British and Irish Lion in 2021, is currently “taking a bit of a back-seat” as Everitt opts to give some younger players a chance to stake their claim for further involvement.
Watson, 32, only signed a one-year deal earlier this year to extend his Edinburgh career into a 14th season and this will be a second game in a row he has not featured in the match-day 23, after starting four of their first six matches.
Everitt maintained Watson is “certainly not out of the equation as far as selection is concerned”. But with new Scotland cap Ben Muncaster – ruled out with illness this week – impressing at openside this season, Scotland Under-20s stars Freddy Douglas and Liam McConnell itching for more opportunities and Connor Boyle still to return after knee surgery, it remains to be seen if Watson is offered another contract extension or chooses to explore his options elsewhere beyond this season.
Douglas, the 19-year-old who made his Scotland debut last month before making his club bow off the bench against Benetton last week, will start his first game for Edinburgh on Friday at Kingsholm, while fellow back-rower McConnell, 20, is poised for his debut off the bench.
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“A guy like Freddy has played for Scotland ‘A’ (he was player of the match against Chile) and has been capped against Portugal, so we expect a big game from him,” Everitt said.
“We’re not making excuses because they are youngsters. If these guys want to play for their country then they’ve got to play well for Edinburgh as well.
“Freddy is good. He is still growing his game and developing his game. We’ve seen in his performances that he’s got a lot of potential. I don’t think he would have played for Scotland if he wasn’t as good as what people say.
“I think every game he plays at senior level will be an opportunity for him to grow his game, especially in the contact area – and I’m not talking about just jackaling, I’m talking about ball-carrying, defensively, making dominant tackles. The game in the URC and the EPCR is a lot more physical than it is at junior level and that’s going to take some time to get used to.
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“I think it is great for Edinburgh rugby, and Scottish rugby, that we are able to rotate these players into the group and on top of that send down a competitive squad.
“This is not a weak squad we are taking to Gloucester. We have prepared this week to win. The players know that and we’re taking this fixture very seriously.
“The EPCR is important for us, and it is also important for the players to get these opportunities in these bigger competitions. It adds experience to their resume and obviously bodes well for us going forward.”
Another player poised for his Edinburgh debut off the bench at Kingsholm is towering 21-year-old lock Rob Carmichael, who at 6ft 11in (2.10m) is the tallest player currently in professional rugby.
Carmichael, born in Hong Kong to a Scottish father, is a product of Leicester Tigers’ academy and was taken on Scotland’s summer tour of the Americas as a ‘development player’, training with the squad but not playing in any of the four Tests.
“Rob has showed enough potential for us to know that he can be a Scottish international one day,” Everitt said.
“He’s already been on the summer series tour with Scotland although he wasn’t capped, and recently he was involved in Scotland ‘A’. He’s learned fast at training – he’s led the lineouts of the opposition at training each week. He’s shown leadership in that role.
“He’s learned a lot from the likes of Sam Skinner and Grant Gilchrist, and we just feel that he’s ready to get an opportunity now. It’s great for him. It certainly adds a lot of depth to our lock department, and I know that he’s going to do a great job in the lineout. There are obviously other areas of the game that he needs to grow in, but he’s still a young lad that’s got heaps of potential.”
Edinburgh are up against a Gloucester side missing injured England internationals Zach Mercer and Ollie Thorley and Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams, but otherwise fielding a host of frontliners including six backs with Test experience.
If the visitors are to pull off an upset, they will need to improve their away form in big games. Last year they won four of their 12 games on the road – against Dragons, Ulster, Zebre and Cardiff – while winning nine out of 12 at home. This season they have lost all three away matches so far.
“We’ve had a look at it and spoken about it. It is something that has been at the club for many a year,” Everitt added.
“Players have to understand that winning your home games, like in the past, is not good enough to win competitions. If you want to contest semi-finals, particularly now that the South Africans are in the competition, you need to win away from home to finish in a favourable position to get home play-offs.
“I think that’s a mindset that has to change. We’ve looked at our statistics when we are away compared to when we are at home – I’m talking generally about our work-rate – and we are more energised when we are at home than when we are away. We chatted about that this week.
“We’ve got to put ourselves in the opposition’s shoes and look at what motivates teams at home and we’ve got to have that same motivation and more when we play away.”
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