Edinburgh Gunners vs Leeds Tykes

Time will tell...
By Oopnorth
August 19 2006

Oopnorth previews the pre-season game against Edinburgh Gunners at Murrayfield. Will the Tykes new team gel into the Nat 1 conquering side that we hope for or will we have to give them a chance? Only time will tell...

The pre-season starts on Friday evening at Murrayfield the home of Scottish rugby with the Tykes taking on the Edinburgh Gunners.

A recent ex Leeds player commenting on why he was pleased to be joining the Celtic League and a Welsh team said ‘skill levels are so much better here.’ Assuming he means the standard of rugby skills, and not the ability to apply gel and fake tan he could be onto something and Edinburgh will prove a really tough test for Lanny’s New Tykes.

Edinburgh finished 5th in the Celtic League last season and performed to expectations in the Heineken including a sound beating of Wasps in the group stages. They can field a team of internationals, although they are still missing Simon Taylor through injury, and have a settled squad led by a popular and innovative coach who also has Leeds connections. They have a sound line out, decent scrum and employ very effectively low driving at the fringes of breakdowns. They are not heavyweight upfront but they are efficient, and they have a good defence. In the backs they have Blair, Paterson and Di Rollo who have speed and flair, with Henderson adding weight and some punch in the centre, and they like to play with ball in hand, spin it wide and counter attack from deep.

Whilst they may be playing with one eye on their encounter with Sale next week, there is no doubt they will want to play winning rugby to impress their new owners the Carruthers brothers. Worthy first opponents then at the start of a new era.

I won’t speculate on the likely Tykes team as apart from probably the skipper Hooper and Biggs in the backs who can say of the new squad which players are winning the race for the starting jerseys in just over 2 weeks time. Lanny has stated that the team is still a work in progress and the two challenging pre season games are designed to expose these issues, test combinations and game plan options, and develop the overall team.

It will be a mouth watering prospect to see where we are with:

- Which of our props can deliver the scrummaging performance we lacked last year?
- Will Rawly be a bridesmaid again or clearly get the starting jersey?
- Will Hoops get back to his best form in the pack and as skipper?
- Can two Argentine internationals give the pack the fizz Diego gave the backs?
- How do you pick options in the back row where we seem to have recruited well?
- What different styles do Edwards and Rauluni offer at scrum half?
- Who can claim the fly half jersey?
- What is our most potent centre combination?
- Will Biggs be top flyer on the wing or will Welding get the plaudits this year?
- Can Hinton keep the scoreboards ticking over, and who’s the back up?

After the game the squad are staying in Scotland as part of team building. I hope they enjoy it – after a good performance on the pitch.