David Denton ready to step up

Big back rower’s reputation rises after classy show against Cardiff

The first thing that strikes you about David Denton is not that he is surprisingly big in the flesh, but how like Simon Taylor the young Zimbabwean is. Nor are the similarities limited to his unruly mop of blond hair and chunky 6ft 4in frame. On Friday night at Murrayfield, as Edinburgh beat Cardiff at the eighth time of asking, stunning the visitors by decisively winning the battle of the breakdown, the big back rower put in a shift of ball-carrying and hard close-quarters graft that was reminiscent of Taylor back in 2000 in the breakthrough months before he made his Scotland debut.

Denton possesses the same athletic dynamism as the youthful Taylor, and against a Cardiff Blues back row containing class acts such as Sam Warburton and Xavier Rush the 21-year-old consistently made ground with the ball in hand. Indeed, with openside Roddy Grant ensuring that tackle ball was recycled quickly, Denton, man of the match No.8 Netani Talei (pictured below), second row Sean Cox and loosehead Allan Jacobsen all carried the ball through some heavy traffic as Edinburgh unexpectedly dominated for most of this Heineken Cup encounter just a week after being comprehensively outplayed in the Welsh capital.

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“Last week we were bullied at the breakdown, so that was a massive emphasis for us,” says Denton. “The forwards really stepped up in terms of physicality, and we really started blasting them around the rucks. We went into the game with the mindset that if we were more aggressive than them then we were going to win.”

Denton, whose Glasgow-born mother and family arrived from South Africa just in time to see their son play against Cardiff, cut his teeth with Eastern Province in South Africa, a side famed for the intensity and ferocity of their forward play, qualities which Edinburgh have sometimes struggled to emulate. So far this season, Edinburgh’s renaissance has been more about flowing back play than forward grunt, so the manner in which they beat Cardiff was almost as important as the win itself.

“It’s unfortunate that Cardiff probably were surprised [by our forward effort],” says Denton. “We’ve managed to pick up the label that we’re not that physical, but that’s something we’re really focusing on changing this season. It was something we did really well when we defeated Munster at Murrayfield and we stepped up physically.

“In the first half [against Cardiff] we really dominated things. In the second half we didn’t retain the ball as well, but I think we showed a lot of guts and heart keeping them out. Something we’ve focused on is making sure that everyone shows how much this means to them. I don’t think that [motivation and commitment] has been a problem for us, but sometimes a team can tend to step off towards the end of the second half, but this season there’s been no sniff of that from us.”

If Edinburgh’s gritty forward effort, expert tactical leadership from stand-off Greig Laidlaw and stubborn defence made a tasty Blues side look ordinary and at times one-dimensional, Michael Bradley’s side also know that they let a golden opportunity go begging on Friday. After utterly dominating the first half, Edinburgh led comfortably at half-time but had Laidlaw not missed two penalties or wing Tim Visser collected an easy cross-field kick to go over for a second try, Cardiff would never have been able to claim a late bonus point through a 79th-minute Leigh Halfpenny penalty.

Although Edinburgh have won three out of four Heineken Cup matches, with just a January trip to Racing Metro of Paris, and then a final home game against London Irish remaining, that bonus point meant that it was Cardiff rather than Edinburgh who ended the night on top of Pool 2. It also means that, if all else is equal between the two clubs, it will be Cardiff who go through by dint of their superior record in the sides’ two games.

“It’s disappointing that we had mixed feelings after the game, but it was a good win for us, and that’s what we should focus on,” says Denton. “We’ve had three wins out of four, so it’s been a really good Heineken Cup for us. It’s unfortunate that we’re slightly behind Cardiff because of the bonus point, but we’re still in a really good position.”

If Edinburgh do go through to the knockout rounds for the first time since they were beaten by Toulouse eight years ago, it will owe as much to Denton’s bustling forcefulness up front as Laidlaw’s expert stewardship and Visser’s tries. It was much the same with Taylor, whose emergence was confirmed in the Heineken Cup – and in particular with a majestic ball-carrying dismantling of Pat Lam as Edinburgh won at Franklin’s Gardens in October 2000, a game which propelled him into the Scotland side and into the 2001 Lions party.

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With Andy Robinson likely to start the slow process of moulding a side for the 2015 World Cup, Denton, who made his Scotland debut as a sub against Ireland before the last World Cup and who has just been pulled into the Six Nations training squad, is equally aware of the wider context of his performances.

“I’m happy enough,” he says of his performance on Friday night. “I had a better game last week but I did what I needed to do. I got us on the front foot, carried ball and made an impact on the game physically. That’s what I need to do to keep Edinburgh going forward and for my personal ambition of getting in the Scotland squad.”

Robinson has already told Denton what he wants from him – “he’s told me that the main thing I bring to the party is ball carrying” – and Denton knows that there’s likely to be a shake-up in the back row. Although playing at blindside, he is equally adept at No.8, and with Johnnie Beattie’s star waning and Richie Vernon yet to be fully convincing at Test level, the Scotland spot is clearly up for grabs.

“In the past two games I have been switching about to show my versatility and that I can do that,” says Denton. “I feel very comfortable in both positions and I’m comfortable with the technical parts of both positions. The fact I can show that I can play both comfortably is good for me. There’s massive competition in the back row but the gap is at No.8 so the more I can show at eight the better.”

That chance will arrive sooner rather than later, with the two 1872 Cup games against Glasgow, which could see Denton pitted against Rob Harley and Beattie, two of his primary rivals for a spot in the Scotland side. Those games, at Murrayfield on Boxing Day and Firhill on New Year’s Day, are basically an extended Scotland trial, a fact which always lends an extra edge to proceedings.

“I’ve been thinking about these Glasgow games for some time because I was gutted to miss out last year, so I’m really looking forward to them now,” he says. “They’re absolutely massive for the players, and you can feel the mood inside the squad because the 1872 Cup is very important if you aspire to play for Scotland.

“I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I’m looking forward to the challenge now; it’s time for me to step up.”