“You can’t win a game on defence alone” – Everitt urges Edinburgh to find attacking spark for 1872 Cup decider

Despite a performance defined by what he described as immense “defensive fight,” the 24-12 defeat to Glasgow Warriors in the first leg of the 1872 Cup left the Head Coach lamenting a lack of clinical edge and attacking variety.

While Everitt was quick to praise the physicality his players brought to the derby, he was equally honest about the frustrations of a performance that saw Edinburgh spend too much time on the ropes.

Looking ahead to the second leg at Scottish Gas Murrayfield this Saturday, the message is one of refocusing; the defensive foundations are there, but there is significantly more to come from the Edinburgh attack if they are to overturn the deficit.

“I look at the positives. I thought we defended really well,” Everitt noted, reflecting on a first half where his side was frequently pinned back but refused to break easily.

“There was a lot of fight in our defence, keeping them out in the first half. We only got into their 22 once and managed to score a try. But if I look at the defensive effort and the physicality, I thought we were right up there with the fight that the guys showed, but you can’t win a game on that alone.

You have to fire some shots from an attack point of view and it didn’t work out for us. Credit to Glasgow on how they defended us as well in the 22, so that’s an area that we need to improve on for next week.”

Looking toward Saturday’s return leg, the 12-point gap looms large, but Everitt is far from conceding the trophy. He admitted that the late try conceded at Hampden “changed the complexion” of the tie, noting that a seven-point margin would have felt far more manageable. Yet, the belief within the camp remains high that the attackers can offer significantly more than they showed in the opening leg.

“12 points in a derby game is a big deficit to catch up,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t say it’s nothing! No, it is a challenge, obviously, and our goal is to win the 1872 Cup. But we haven’t lost faith. We’ve shown in the past that we can win. We’re positive that if we can put up the same fight and the same physicality next week and be more accurate with ball in hand, we’ve got an opportunity to do that.”

The atmosphere of the derby, complete with the inevitable “chirping” from the Glasgow faithful, has only added fuel to the fire for the return leg in the capital.

Everitt took the local hospitality in his stride, even if it came with a side of typical West Coast cheek. “We get the odd chirp in our face. We got offered a beer as well, but we didn’t accept that—very kind of that gentleman,” Everitt smiled.

He noted that while the dressing room was place of deep disappointment on full-time, the inherent energy of the rivalry would ensure a quick turnaround.

“The disappointment will turn around very quickly, as we’ve done it before, and we’ll be back next Saturday.”

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