Chris Paterson assesses Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors URC chances - contrasts and 'tough nuts to crack'
The URC gets under way this weekend, with Edinburgh away at Dragons on Saturday and Glasgow welcoming Leinster to Scotstoun. Neither Scottish outfit are anywhere close to full strength right now due to a number of their players recovering from their World Cup exploits but come this time next month, both will be back to full strength and former Scotland and Edinburgh great Paterson expects a strong showing in the league.
"When both sides have their international players available, they are going to be a really tough nut to crack and should be taken really seriously,” said Paterson. “The big thing for Edinburgh is to be more combative, more competitive than they were last season and finish higher up that league. For Glasgow, the big thing is to go one or two steps further than how it ended last year. There is a settled core to the squad and you know with [head coach] Franco [Smith] you are going to get a hard edge, while he will look to add layers to the attack and defence. In order to do better than last season and address that unfinished business, it’s much easier when there’s a sense of familiarity in terms of players and coaches and they’ve got that. So I think they will be a force again.”
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Hide AdWarriors made the knock-out stages of the URC last season but Edinburgh, in a season of transition following Mike Blair’s departure, missed out entirely. Smith remains at Scotstoun to try and build on a successful maiden campaign, while Edinburgh have a new lead coach in the shape of Sean Everitt. Paterson believes that Warriors will play a similar style of rugby as last season, yet Edinburgh come in as a bit of an “unknown”.
"Glasgow Warriors went on a great run under new coach Franco Smith last term, reaching the knock-out stages in both the BKT United Rugby Championship and the European Challenge Cup, only to miss out on silverware.
Paterson, who won 109 caps for his country and will be a URC pundit for Viaplay this season, continued: “You have a contrast, don’t you? You have a lot of knowns at Glasgow, how they play, the combative spirit they have got. There will be a bit of unfinished business as well, in terms of reaching the final of the Challenge Cup and falling short and also then losing at home to Munster in the quarter-finals of the URC.
“There is more to come from Glasgow Warriors as a result of how the season ended. There’s a balance to it, there’s an understanding, there’s a hard edge. You know really what’s coming. You know it’s going to be a tough trip for whoever goes to Scotstoun.
“In contrast, there’s a lot of unknown with Edinburgh. Sean Everitt has come in and he’s not had a huge amount of time to work with the players yet. But there is a lot of talent in that squad and there is an excitement. Ben Healy coming in from Munster at No 10 is a big move in terms of having an out-and-out game management controller. He will help glue some of that talent together.”