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Sean Everitt on the Edinburgh loss dubbed 'humiliating' by ex-player
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt insisted he won’t be pressing any panic buttons despite his anger at watching his side slip to a humiliating third defeat out of three in the United Rugby Championship.
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After an opening home loss to Leinster and a 22-16 defeat by the Bulls a week ago, Everitt was in bullish mood after announcing his team on Friday to face the Lions in Johannesburg, saying “I know this group will stand up and be good tomorrow.”
In the event his side found themselves 48-0 down at the interval – a record half-time score in the URC – after conceding seven tries at Ellis Park, many of them after coughing up possession to their rampant hosts.
Former Scotland captain and Edinburgh flanker John Barclay labelled the opening 40 minutes “an embarrassment”, a “disaster” and “humiliating” for his old side, who have targeted a top-four finish this term after missing out on the play-offs last season.
“It looks like a complete lack of clarity in their attack,” Barclay said. “Their defence had been good but then you concede 48 points in 40 minutes. It feels like a big puzzle to fix. I think there’s panic buttons being pressed everywhere at the moment.
“Edinburgh have been very well funded, they’ve got a good squad and they’ve brought in good players. They are missing a couple at the moment but that team sheet is full of internationals and that’s not translating onto the pitch right now.”
After their last campaign ended with a home defeat by Munster and a dismal 31-6 defeat by Benetton in Treviso – the previous low point under Everitt – that ejected Edinburgh out of the play-off positions, this was a fifth straight URC defeat for the Scottish outfit.
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Lions were 22-0 ahead in as many minutes after three early tries and four more before half-time made for brutal viewing for Everitt.
“No-one prepares you for this,” said the South African. “It was a very disappointing first 40 minutes. It was everything that we spoke about during the week. We didn’t stick to the plan. We needed to win the transition battle – it was one of our three key points going into this game.
“We went off our kick strategy. We had to kick the ball out because they’re a dangerous counter-attacking team, as we know. They thrive on transition rugby and then we gave them five turnovers and five transition tries before half-time.
“I think it’s very hard not to be angry when you concede 48 points in 40 minutes, especially when it’s in your hands. Especially when you have a kick strategy and it’s to kick the ball out into the stands and you don’t kick it out into the stands.”
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Edinburgh did respond with three tries in the second half to make it 48-21 and give themselves hope of securing a four-try bonus point in defeat, but that proved beyond them as Lions grabbed an eighth try with the electric Rabz Maxwane sealing a hat-trick.
“When we stick to the plan, we tick all three boxes in the last 40 minutes and end up winning the second half 21-7, I think that tells a story,” Everitt said. “We need to stick to the plan. We need to respect the ball when we’re attacking and need to work extremely hard, especially when you’re away from home.
“We also started the game with four soft penalties in the first 20 minutes. It all adds up. What we need to do is look at what didn’t work and why it didn’t work as a group. Certainly when we stick to strategy, we’re a very difficult team to beat. There’s no need to panic. We’re only in round three of the URC.”
Everitt was adamant Edinburgh can turn things around when they return home to face the Stormers at Hive Stadium next Saturday, with some personnel changes likely.
“It’s been a tough start,” he acknowledged. “It’s a tough game coming up against the Stormers but we’ll be confident that we can win at home. It’s easier to learn when you’re winning, but we need to rectify things. We need to learn very quickly.
“There’s no panic button at this stage. Obviously, we’ll have a look at our squad. We’ve tweaked the squad while we’ve been on this trip. We also know that we’ve got guys that are waiting at home.
“So I’m not going to push panic buttons as far as selection is concerned. It’s about sticking to a plan of rotation and maybe bringing in some fresh faces.”
Everitt could be without both his frontline hookers against Stormers after Ewan Ashman failed an HIA on Saturday, with Dave Cherry already sidelined with an ankle injury. Patrick Harrison, who impressed after coming on against Lions, is likely to step up.
But the head coach played down any concerns over Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe, who was a late withdrawal from the starting XV against Lions.
“Duhan’s been struggling with calf tightness this week,” Everitt added. “We were hoping this morning that he would feel better.
“When you’ve got a quality wing like that, you don’t want to risk him for injury, but he’ll be available for selection next week. We also know that he’s got to be rested in the next three weeks, so we had that opportunity to do that today.”
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I wouldn't be too hard on Edinburgh. The Lions' counter attack was breathtaking yesterday. They would have taken any team in the URC apart with their play in the first 40.
Lions need to beef up in the forwards though. In the 2nd 40 Edinburgh's forwards dominated absolutely.