Everitt rues discipline in derby defeat

• 23 Dec 2023
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Edinburgh Rugby Senior Coach Sean Everitt rued his side’s discipline as the capital side fell short in Friday night’s 1872 Cup opener against Glasgow Warriors.

Leading 8-10 heading into the final 15 minutes of action at Scotstoun, Edinburgh succumbed to Warriors pressure with a series of penalties that gave the hosts easy entries into the capital 22 – with Glasgow eventually running out 22-10 winners.

Everitt said: “We conceded eight penalties in the last 24 minutes. If you concede eight penalties against a team that mauls really well in these conditions you are going to be up against it and the yellow card didn’t help.”

It was a slot start for Edinburgh who battled back from a Ross Thompson penalty and Kyle Rowe try through a score from club centurion WP Nel.

The tighthead prop powered over with five minutes remaining the first-half to make it a one-point game at the break [8-7].

Everitt continued: “Yes, I did expect more. We had a slow start in the first 20 and it looked like we were shaky, nervous but we managed to keep them to eight.

“Then we got back into the game and had 72 per cent territory in the first half but we did not make enough of our opportunities, especially in the back field. The second half we were on top again.”

With Ben Healy’s second-half penalty giving Edinburgh a 8-10 lead there was little between the two teams with both packs battling through the tough conditions.

The hosts were able to get a foothold in the game and turn the screw in the final stages however and when Edinburgh temporarily went down to 14 men following Grant Gilchrist’s yellow card, the Warriors were able to put up 14 points to secure the win and add polish to the eventual scoreline.

Everitt added: “Are there ways to rectify this? Yes, there is. We will look at it and deal with the individuals concerned. I thought we defended very well at times.

“We did not want them to get the ball to the edges and we prevented them from doing that at times and they did not get as many run metres that they usually do so there are positives we can take out of this game rather than deal with the negatives.

“We will look at it and see how we could have prevented giving away these penalties.”