NO TEAM ever wants to enhance a reputation for inconsistency, but in the short term at least that is precisely what Edinburgh will have to do if they are to get back on the winning track this weekend.
Sunday’s defeat at the Dragons was just the latest in a long sequence of ups and downs this season, first under Alan Solomons and now with Duncan Hodge as head coach. They beat Harlequins at home in the Challenge Cup last month, for example, only to lose six days later to Zebre. That dismal performance was followed by an inspired and improbable win over Ulster, but then came that loss in Newport.
Now, as they prepare for Friday night’s PRO12 match away to the Ospreys, Hodge’s squad hope they are due another upturn in their fortunes - even if they would far rather perform consistently well week in, week out.
“That’s not something we want to be known for – having bad week, then good week, then bad, then good,” back-row forward Jamie Ritchie said yesterday. “We want to be up there all the time.
“We’re extremely disappointed with the result we had on Sunday even though Dragons are not a weak side - they turned over the Scarlets the week before and are tough at home. But we are very disappointed with the result and so hope we can bounce back at the Ospreys this week.
“We shot ourselves in the foot at key points in the Dragons game, definitely with the nearly 20 turnovers we gave away. And they beat us at the breakdown, and you can’t play if you give away that many turnovers. There were opportunities where we were looking to score and they’ve turned us over, and we’ve lost the chance and sometimes they scored.
“I think two of their tries came from our turnovers and that’s 66 per cent of their scores. That’s what made it hard.”
It must also be hard to return to Wales just days after having lost there - hard not in the sense of the journey being particularly arduous, but in terms of changing the mindset after a disappointing defeat. Ritchie accepted that some players find that kind of repetition difficult, but insisted that they had to learn to take it in their stride.
“It’s not as bad as last year where we spent three weeks down there and in the same hotel,” he said of the impending journey to Swansea. “It’s the nature of the sport and it affects some guys in different ways – some guys don’t like sitting on buses or planes – but it’s not that big a deal. It’s part of the job we do.”
Ritchie’s own job has become a more varied one of late, as, with John Hardie out injured and Hamish Watson away on Scotland duty, he has had to fill in at openside rather than elsewhere in the back row. “I’m really enjoying it. I haven’t played a lot at 7 for Edinburgh, but I have for other clubs so I’m not unfamiliar with it, but that’s two now for Edinburgh and it is different.
“But I just enjoy playing, be it with a 6 or 7 or 20 or whatever number you want to chuck on my back. As long as I’m on the field I’m happy.”
With Magnus Bradbury, Nasi Manu and now Bill Mata all in contention for a starting place as well as Watson and Hardie when fit, it is getting harder for every Edinburgh back-row forward to get on the field. According to Ritchie, however, the rivalry for a starting jersey is never allowed to undermine the spirit of co-operation among the players, with Manu in particular being an inspiration to his younger team-mates.
“He’s a great talker and part of the leadership group, but he’s a very approachable guy and a nice man. We all kind of help each other out, especially in the back row, because we’re all a varied group of players with differing strengths and so we tend to help each other. Nasi is very open about how he prepares for matches and he’s a massively experienced man in terms of rugby, so you listen to him.”
At 20, Ritchie is a year younger than Bradbury, who won his first Scotland cap earlier this month against Argentina. “I was absolutely delighted for him and texted him when the team went up,” the younger man explained. “It just shows what form can do. He’s had a great year and I’m really happy because he’s one of my best mates, so it was great to see him run out there against Argentina.
“I was at school with Zander [Fagerson, the Glasgow prop] and he got his first cap last year, and now Maggie. It shows that it’s possible and it’s a definite goal for the future - it becomes more real.
“We’re different players. He’s got his ball-carrying ability and I’m maybe a bit behind him in that, but there are other things I’ve got over him … though probably not many now.
“He’s a very good player and I’m delighted for him. He’s done well and deserves it.”
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