Do not underestimate Gloucester. That has been the theme of the week from Edinburgh’s players in their media interviews, and the message was amplified in no uncertain terms yesterday by Sean Everitt.
The English club may have lost their last nine matches in the Premiership, but according to the coach that dismal statistic may well make them more dangerous, not less, when they visit Hive Stadium on Challenge Cup business today. And, while they have not managed to pick up a win in the league since the opening couple of weeks of the season, they won both of their Pool 3 outings in the Cup last month to go three points clear at the top.
What is more, with Scotland internationals Chris Harris and Adam Hastings in the visitors’ line-up as well as Wales’ talismanic back Louis Rees-Zammit, Everitt expects a tough test at a sold-out Hive Stadium. “If you look at their team from 1 to 15, you cannot take them lightly,” he insisted. “I thought they were very unfortunate not to come away with a win at Bath on Sunday - there were just a couple of soft moments. We’ll need to be on top of our game to get a win.
“They’re looking to bounce back. They know they’re a better team than the scoreboard has been suggesting.
“They’ll see this as an opportunity to get their Premiership campaign back on track, so we’ve just got to make sure that we don’t give them hope in the game. We know that they’re dangerous. They’ve got Louis Rees-Zammit at full-back - he’s a British & Irish Lion and has got tremendous pace. They’ve got Chris Harris at 13 and Adam Hastings at 10, and the list goes on.
“They’re a dangerous team and a wounded team - and sometimes they’re the most dangerous animal.”
While Gloucester were losing 17-10 to Bath six days ago, Edinburgh had a week off at the midway point of their regular season in which to recuperate following the rigours of the festive double-header against Glasgow. Everitt has made four changes to the team that began the second-leg win over the Warriors on the penultimate day of the old year, three up front and one in the back division.
Having come off the bench in that 1872 Cup match at Murrayfield, Emiliano Boffelli is in the starting line-up for the first time this season. The Argentine player is at full-back, while the in-form Wes Goosen moves from 15 to 11, Duhan van der Merwe having been rested to allow him to attend the wedding of his twin sister in South Africa.
In the front row, Dave Cherry takes over at hooker from Ewan Ashman, who drops to the bench. Sam Skinner makes his first club appearance of the season at lock, having been sidelined by a knee injury since his return from the Rugby World Cup, and Glen Young moves from the second row to blindside to accommodate him.
In the back row, Hamish Watson comes in at openside, taking over from Jamie Ritchie, who has a jaw injury. Both Ritchie and Luke Crosbie, who misses out with a neck injury, should be available for Friday night’s final pool game away to Scarlets.
With the top four from each pool of six going through to the last 16, an away win this evening would be enough for Gloucester to qualify with a game to spare, while a home win would take Edinburgh close. Since taking over at the start of the season, Everitt has insisted that a top-eight finish in the United Rugby Championship has to be the team’s basic aim for the season, but he sees no reason why that cannot be accompanied by a good run in Europe. Indeed, he believes it is realistic to think that his side can go on and win the Cup.
“Yes it is,” he said. “The French teams are always going to be strong - they’ve just got unbelievable international depth and talent.
“But so do the Scottish teams. Glasgow got to the final last year and competed well against Toulon, so for us it would be step-by-step. If we want to win silverware, this competition is another opportunity for us to do so.”
Edinburgh (v Gloucester at Hive Stadium, today 5.30pm): E Boffelli; D Graham, M Bennett, M Currie, W Goosen; B Healy, A Price; P Schoeman, D Cherry, W Nel, S Skinner, G Gilchrist (captain), G Young, H Watson, V Mata. Replacements: Ewan Ashman, R Hislop, A Williams, M Sykes, Tom Dodd, B Vellacott, J Lang, H Paterson.
Gloucester: L Rees-Zammit; J May, C Harris, S Atkinson, O Thorley; A Hastings, C Englefield; J Ford-Robinson, S Blake, K Gotovtsev, F Clarke, M Alemanno, J Clement, L Ludlow (captain), Z Mercer. Replacements: G McGuigan, H Elrington, F Balmain, C Jordan, R Ackermann, S Varney, M Llewellyn, L Evans.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy).
