Tough conversations held at Edinburgh Rugby after latest hammering
No excuses says Lawrie after eight-try beating in South Africa
Edinburgh Rugby remain a club struggling to find an identity and assistant coach Stevie Lawrie has offered a frank assessment of their shortcomings in last Saturday’s heavy defeat by the Lions in Johannesburg.
He lamented their inconsistency, inaccuracy, lack of fight and the way their South African opponents were able to run through them as they notched up eight tries in a 54-17 walloping.
It was the second season in a row that the Lions have put 50-plus points on Edinburgh and Lawrie said the reaction within the camp had been one of “honest reflection”.
“There's no excuses,” he said. “It wasn't good enough over the piece. Disappointing after what was perceived to be a very good training week. But fundamentally, the inconsistencies in our game that we've shown over the piece are continuing to raise their heads. So not consistent enough, if we're honest.”
Lawrie, the Edinburgh forwards coach, said there had been some straight talking at their training base but it could hardly be any other way.
‘Some bloody tough conversations’
“There's no hiding in place,” he said. “It's a case of, for me, having firm conversations both ways. And you know what? There should be some bloody tough conversations going on at the minute because it's not good enough.”
He added: “When you watch Edinburgh, I want to see a tough defence. Traditionally, we have had a good defence. Obviously, at the weekend, we got ran over, we got ran round. The Lions can do that to you when you get it wrong.
“For me, if somebody gets run round, that's OK. If somebody's quicker than you, that's fine as long as there's not a massive system error. However, there were times in that game where we got run over and through or we didn't work hard enough to get back.
“That's the bits that we have to look at. What is our fabric? Our fabric needs to be around effort. What's our fight look like? How much do we care? I'm a fan of sport as well as a coach. When I watch a team that I support, I want to make sure I've got those two things. That was absent at the weekend.”
Sean Everitt's side conclude their mini-tour of South Africa with a game in Cape Town on Saturday against the Stormers who are currently second in the United Rugby Championship. It’s another demanding test of Edinbugh’s credentials and Lawrie tried to draw some comfort from last season when they bounced back from a 55-21 defeat by the Lions at Ellis Park to beat the Stormers 38-7.
That game was at Hive Stadium, however, and it’s hard to see how Edinburgh in their current form can record a rare win on South African soil. They are languishing in 13th place in the URC and their hopes of making the play-offs are looking increasingly forlorn. They will be without Ben Muncaster and D’arcy Rae for the Stormers game due to head and calf injuries, respectively.
They are also a club in flux, with three of their assistant coaches - Scott Mathie, Rob Chrystie and Michael Todd - due to leave at the end of the season. Lawrie said he was in talks about his own future and indicated they had been “positive”.
“I'm currently in discussions with Edinburgh so I'm having positive discussions with them, but that's as much as I can say at the minute,” he said.
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