Edinburgh prioritise 1872 Cup as they make 11 changes for Castres
Big guns rested for Champions Cup trip to France
Edinburgh have opted to prioritise the 1872 Cup derbies with Glasgow Warriors over Sunday’s Investec Champions Cup match against Castres.
Sean Everitt, the capital side’s head coach, has selected a youthful side for the trip to France and includes a number of promising but inexperienced players for the Pool 2 clash at Stade Pierre-Fabre.
Full-back Jack Brown, hooker Harri Morris and tighthead Ollie Blyth-Lafferty have all made fewer than 10 competitive appearances for the club while flankers Liam McConnell and Freddy Douglas have played 11 and 10 times, respectively.
It seems like a risky strategy against opponents who sit mid-table in the Top 14 but boast a formidable pack and are a tough nut to crack at home.
“You've got to plan your season in advance to make sure that you've got your strongest team available when necessary,” reasoned Everitt. “At the same time, you've got to balance that with developing guys to come through and play at the hardest level and give them experience. The team that we've selected, there's a good mixture, once again, between youth and experience, similar to what we had against Ospreys.”
Edinburgh scraped past the Welsh side at home a fortnight ago but the degree of difficulty goes up several notches for Castres. Pierre Schoeman, Duhan van der Merwe, Magnus Bradbury and Grant Gilchrist have all been rested and Darcy Graham has been omitted due to a back issue. Only four players remain from the side which started against Toulon in the Champions Cup last weekend and won so impressively at Hive Stadium.
‘We have to prioritise games’
That was their opening match of a four-game Pool 2 campaign and Edinburgh will face Gloucester at home and Bath away in the new year. A couple of wins is likely to be enough to secure qualification for the last 16 but the higher you finish in the pool phase, the more favourable your draw.
But Edinburgh also need to pick up points in the United Rugby Championship having won just two of their first five fixtures. They are tenth in the 18-team table and, with two games to come against Glasgow at Hampden on December 20 and Murrayfield a week later, Everitt has had to make some tough decisions.
“We have to prioritise games, and obviously the 1872 Cup games are massive in our calendar,” said Everitt. “I have to balance the squad out so that I have our strongest team available for the big games.
“We’ve got rest periods for our players and we like to give them a rest once they’ve played four or five games. It’s good for the squad, it’s good for our team environment, if everyone's getting an opportunity to play. The energy levels now are really high within this group because they are competing for a place in the 1872, and everyone would have had a fair opportunity to compete for a start.
“And that's what we spoke about at the beginning of the year. Every time you get an opportunity to wear the jersey, it'll be an opportunity to [be in] what we call our championship team. So yes, we've got a lot of things that we've put in place to take us through to the end of January, and it's a 10-week run.”
There are welcome returns to the squad to face Castres for two long-term absentees. Matt Currie will make his first appearance of the season after overcoming vertigo and the Scotland international has been picked to start at outside centre. There is also a place on the bench for flanker Connor Boyle who has been out for over a year with a serious knee injury.
Lock to go under the knife
Unfortunately for Edinburgh, they are also losing a player to injury, with Marshall Sykes requiring surgery on his bicep. The operation is likely to rule out the Scotland second-row forward for 10-12 weeks, meaning he will miss some or all of next year’s Six Nations Championship.
“It's unfortunate for a guy that was probably peaking in the season,” said Everitt. “He's a massive contributor to the set-piece success that we've had. So we'll miss him.
“It's fortunate for us with the depth that we've got in that position. Callum Hunter-Hill gets another opportunity to start, as he did coming off the bench against Ospreys. So he can build some continuity in that position.
“And then we've got Glen Young, who's an experienced campaigner at the club, a really good lineout caller and a guy that's got a high work rate.”
Castres v Edinburgh teams
Castres Olympique v Edinburgh Rugby (Champions Cup Pool 2, Stade Pierre-Fabre, Sunday, 1pm GMT)
Castres Olympique: 15. Geoffrey Palis; 14. Christian Ambadiang, 13. Vilimoni Botitu, 12. Jack Goodhue, 11. Adam Vargas; 10. Pierre Popelin, 9. Jeremy Fernandez; 1. Quentin Walcker, 2. Loris Zarantonello, 3. Aurelien Azar, 4. Gauthier Maravat, 5. Tom Staniforth, 6. Baptiste Delaporte (c), 7. Tyler Ardron, 8. Abraham Papalii. Replacements: 16. Teddy Durand-Pradere, 17. Lois Guerois-Galisson, 18. Nicolas Corato, 19. Leone Nakarawa, 20. Baptiste Cope, 21. Gauthier Doubrere, 22. Enzo Herve, 23. Vuate Karawalevu.
Edinburgh Rugby: 15. Jack Brown; 14. Ross McCann, 13. Matt Currie, 12. Piers O'Conor, 11. Lewis Wells; 10. Cammy Scott, 9. Ben Vellacott (c); 1. Boan Venter, 2. Harri Morris, 3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 4. Callum Hunter-Hill, 5. Glen Young, 6. Liam McConnell, 7. Freddy Douglas, 8. Tom Dodd. Replacements: 16. Ewan Ashman, 17. Mikey Jones, 18. Paul Hill, 19. Connor Boyle, 20. Hamish Watson, 21. Charlie Shiel, 22. James Lang, 23. Wes Goosen.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy).
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.