How Edinburgh plan to solve winger touch issue and get their finishers on the ball

Midfield reshuffle for visit of Cardiff and four changes in pack

Getting your best players on the ball is essential for all successful teams and it’s something Edinburgh are striving to improve.

They have the two of the most prolific finishers in world rugby on their books but have not been able to service Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham as much as they would have liked in recent times.

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Happily, they were able to involve Graham more in last week’s match with the Stormers and the Hawick man is now averaging around 10 touches per game, according to Scott Mathie, the club’s attack and backs coach. Most importantly, he also scored in the 38-7 win, his first try for Edinburgh since the final match of the 2022-23 campaign after injuries conspired to limit his involvement last season to a paltry four games.

Darcy Graham scored his first try of the season in Edinburgh's win over the Stormers.Darcy Graham scored his first try of the season in Edinburgh's win over the Stormers.
Darcy Graham scored his first try of the season in Edinburgh's win over the Stormers. | SNS Group

The story on the other flank is not quite so encouraging with van der Merwe having just four touches against the Stormers. Scotland’s record try-scorer in full flow is a sight to behold and he started the season well with a double in the narrow home loss to Leinster. Subsequent games have been less profitable but the winger should have more opportunities to get on the ball this weekend against opponents who like to play open rugby.

Edinburgh are back at Hive Stadium on Saturday evening to face Cardiff and Mathie believes progress is being made in terms of the attack and the contribution from the wide men.

“I think we are creating opportunities,” he said. “The opportunities are there, it’s just a case of making sure we take those opportunities when we get them.”

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Mathie, who joined the club in the summer after winning back-to-back Major League Rugby titles in the US as head coach of New England Free Jacks, was brought in to reinvigorate the team’s attack after a campaign in which Edinburgh struggled to secure four-try bonus points.

“There’s no doubt that we want our best players getting as much ball as possible,” he said. “So in terms of attack, we are always seeking ways to ensure that we can create those opportunities from the parts of the game that we can control, and obviously sticking to our processes and things around our counter-attack and transition will give us even more opportunities for these guys.

“They’re definitely working hard and I think evidence of that was the fact that Darcy has been getting a lot of touches the last two games. Duhan before that got a few, and I know his first game he ended up with a couple of tries. So it’s something that we’re always working on and trying to promote and get right.”

Edinburgh have tweaked their midfield for the Cardiff game in the hope of adding more potency. Matt Currie, who came off the bench against the Stormers, starts for the first time since straining his hamstring on the opening night of the season against Leinster and partners Mosese Tuipulotu in the centre. The pair have swapped since that game, with Tuipulotu now at 12 and Currie at 13 which seems a more natural fit.

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“It’s really important that we get a player of Matt Currie’s quality back on the field and getting the game time that he needs,” said Mathie.

“I think we’re really blessed with some quality practitioners in the midfield. Matt Scott has done a great job there, too.

Matt Currie is back in the Edinburgh starting XV to face Cardiff.Matt Currie is back in the Edinburgh starting XV to face Cardiff.
Matt Currie is back in the Edinburgh starting XV to face Cardiff. | SNS Group

“As I said, we need to get Matt Currie on the field and it’ll be really good to see how the combination there goes. Mo at 12 is a physical presence and Matt Currie’s got really good intelligence and quality on ball.”

Currie was a stand-out performer for Edinburgh last season and is likely to come into the Scotland reckoning for the autumn internationals after impressing on the summer tour of North and South America. But he needs a couple of big performances, with Saturday’s match and next weekend’s game against the Ospreys his only two opportunities to make his case for selection.

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Matt Scott drops to the bench to make way for Currie and there are also four changes to the Edinburgh pack for Cardiff’s visit. Back-row forward Luke Crosbie makes his first start of the season and replaces Jamie Ritchie who has been rested; Marshall Sykes comes in for Jamie Hodgson to partner captain Grant Gilchrist in the second row and props Boan Venter and D’arcy Rae take over from Pierre Schoeman and Paul Hill. Hodgson, Schoeman and Hill are all named as replacements, along with Ewan Ashman and Hamish Watson who both return to the squad.

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