History will be kind to me because I intend to write it

EDINBURGH’S FESTIVAL OF RUGBY

Scottish legend Gavin Hastings cannot wait for Edinburgh to open its doors to players and fans of both rugby codes in May for a festival of rugby – as he believe the historic city has “something to offer everyone”.

Scotland’s lively capital boasts one of the most sizable and atmospheric stadiums in European rugby union – but for a weekend in early May all 14 Super League clubs will be gracing Murrayfield’s hallowed turf, before, on May 23, the cream of Europe’s union talent will go head-to-head in the Heineken Cup Final, as they did four years ago when Stade Francais edged out Toulouse after extra time.

The last occasion rugby leaguers ventured north of the border was in 2002 when the 67,800-seater stadium hosted the Challenge Cup Final and Wigan collected their last silverware after defeating St Helens.

Taking over from Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, Murrayfield – which had a £50m revamp in 1995 – will welcome over 100,000 Super League fans for the Magic Weekend on May 2 and 3.

And 47-year-old Hastings, who won 61 caps for his country and six caps for the British Lions, believes that Heineken Cup revellers and, in particular, supporters of the 13-man code will fall for the charm of the city.

“Edinburgh is a real party city,” says the former full-back, “and it has something to offer everyone. Not only is Murrayfield a short walk from the city centre but the stadium and its surrounds will be buzzing before, during and after the rugby. Everyone is guaranteed to have a fantastic time.”

St Helens’ England stand-off, Leon Pryce, is looking forward to stepping out at Murrayfield. “It will be great to play in such a fantastic stadium,” believes the 27-year-old. “I know Scottish people are always very welcoming! I am expecting Edinburgh to provide a great atmosphere for the Magic Weekend – it will be a spectacle.”

Labels: Edinburgh, Gavin Hastings, rugby union, Scotland

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WASPS HOPING NOT TO GET STUNG

London Wasps head to Castres next weekend hoping that Leinster, who they beat 19-12 at Twickenham on Saturday, slip up against Edinburgh, in order to qualify for the last eight of the Heineken Cup.

Though equal with Wasps on 16 points the Irish team will advance thanks to their 41-11 win over Wasps in October – but their losing bonus point could have been cancelled out had Wasps chosen to gamble for a try rather than let Dave Walder slot a penalty.

“There was a little bit of discussion – it’s one of those decisions,” said prop and captain Phil Vickery following the win in which Danny Cipriani also kicked 11 points and Serge Betsen crossed for a try. “Should you have gone for the corner or stuck it over, you could talk about it forever.

“You can go on about ifs and buts, but if we’d lost the ball we could easily have been talking about something different. I wouldn’t be surprised if Edinburgh beat Leinster. So we can’t worry about anyone else, it’s about what we do.”

Harlequins had their 100 per cent record halted by Ulster at Ravenhill. The Irish won 21-10, but Dean Richards’s team’s passage to the quarter-finals is assured.

Meanwhile, in the European Challenge Cup Saracens defeated Viadana 36-19 at Vicarage Road on Sunday to secure their advancement to the last eight. Similarly London Irish, for whom Peter Hewat scored five tries in a 75-5 win over Connacht, are also through.

Labels: Daniel Cipriani, Dean Richards, Edinburgh, Ian McGeechan, Leinster, London Harlequins, London Irish, London Wasps, Phil Vickery, Saracens, Serge Betsen

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 11:49 pm | Permalink | Comments

REES WARY OF EDINBURGH RAINING ON WASPS’ PARADE

Tom Rees scored a try with three minutes remaining at Murrayfield last Friday to seal London Wasps’ second win in the Heineken Cup this campaign, but the England flank forward knows that his team will have to improve their performance in the return fixture at Adams’s Park this Sunday if they stand any chance of progressing to the last eight of the competition – with three Pool 2 games to play they are six points behind leaders Leinster, who have 14.

The 24-year-old’s late score, which ensured a scrappy 25-16 win, vanquished the horror of three years ago when Simon Webster’s injury-time try helped Edinburgh to win 32-31 – but Rees knows Andy Robinson’s team will be gunning for revenge in England against the Guinness Premiership champions.

“It was important to get the result up in Edinburgh,” said Rees, whose team are yet to win three games in a row this term. “We have not had many happy memories going up there in the past. It was good to pick up the result and keep our Heineken Cup hopes alive and we will be looking to do the same this week. It is still a case of knowing that if we lose then we are out of the Heineken Cup.

“Hopefully it will be a bit more comfortable this week with it being at home. We also have slightly longer to prepare this week so we should be sharper and better prepared. Also I hope the rugby is a little bit better, because while it was a great result last Friday it was not a great game for us. Hopefully that win will help our confidence build and we will start to play some better rugby as well as winning.

“There is a hell of a lot of pressure on us at the moment, and we have put some of that on ourselves through not performing and not winning. But the more wins we get, the more pressure we take off ourselves. The tendency is to try and be more conservative and grind results out. When you are winning and flying high things seem to come more easily. In our current state of mind we are perhaps more wary of trying things.

“One of the problems that we got ourselves in to at the beginning of the season was that when things did start to go wrong everyone was constantly looking for ways out of it. We were effectively trying too hard; the more important thing would have been to relax. But that is counter intuitive when things are going badly. It is important for us to stay relaxed and confident but at the same time our focus has got to be sky high. When these wins do hopefully start to mount up – at the moment we are still only talking about two – we can play with a bit more confidence.”

On Sunday’s opponents Rees added: “Edinburgh will not be too happy about losing at Murrayfield. They are a very well drilled side, as you would expect from a team who are managed by Andy Robinson. He selected me for my first game for England, so I have a lot of respect for him.

“They have got a very good back row, and it was a very interesting one to go up against last week. They have got a few young players, too, so these are exiting times for them if they can grow in confidence themselves and move forward. My concern is this week they are going to come down smarting for having lost at home.

“I’d imagine they would be quite happy to rain on our parade in terms of making sure we don’t progress in the Heineken Cup. So we’ll have to be pretty sharp to win. They game went right to the death up in Scotland and we will have to work very hard to make sure that is not the case on Sunday.”

Labels: Edinburgh, Heineken Cup, London Wasps, Tom Rees

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 6:24 pm | Permalink | Comments

EDINBURGH NO LAUGHING MATTER FOR WASPS, SAYS BIRKETT

Richard Birkett and his London Wasps team-mates welcomed back their nine internationals on Sunday with a trip to a comedy club in Battersea. But, ahead of Friday's crucial Heineken Cup third round game in Edinburgh, they know their current situation is no laughing matter.

The lock, who made his Wasps debut nine years ago and has played over 200 times for the club, admits that Wasps need to pull out all the stops immediately if they are to salvage anything from their season.

Last Friday the reigning Guinness Premiership champions narrowly defeated Newcastle Falcons 23-17 to record only their second win of the campaign after eight rounds – they are now ninth in the table.

Similarly in the Heineken Cup, a trophy they won in 2007, things have not started well – which places extra importance on the game at Murrayfield. In October a 25-11 home win over French club Castres was followed by a 41-11 drubbing away to Leinster, leaving Wasps six points off the Irish side in Pool 2 and equal on four points with Edinburgh. Birkett knows that Wasps stand a mathematical chance of advancing to the latter stages, but his team must record bonus-point victories.

“It has got to the point now where every single game is a must-win, if we want to do anything at all this year,” says 29-year-old Birkett, who represented England Under-18s while a Millfield schoolboy. “These are desperate times and it was good to win against Newcastle Falcons last week. We needed to get a win at all costs – it was not pretty but it didn’t matter.

“We should have scored a lot more points but we are still making plenty of little errors which are costing us. That is because our confidence is low. We know we can perform, as we are doing it on the training pitch, but we can’t do it on the pitch because we have not been winning games and closing them out. It has caused people to play a bit nervously.

“Winning will bring that confidence back – we know that when we are at the top of our game we can beat anyone, and that is what we need to get back to.”

Birkett was part of the Wasps pack who last played against Edinburgh at Murrayfield in a competitive fixture, three years ago, and recalls the disappointment of Scottish back, Simon Webster’s injury-time score which handed Edinburgh a 32-31 in the opening round of that Heineken Cup competition.

“I remember it was incredibly wet and horrible,” grimaces Birkett. “It was one of those days when nothing went for us at all – they definitely had the bounce of the ball. And it was gutting to see Webster cross for the late try.

“We went up there in pre-season in August and lost again [22-15]. It was a disappointing loss but not crucial. It’s more important now – there is much more at stake. We know they are a strong, physical side and they will defend well.

“We are under no illusions as to how hard a task it will be, as Edinburgh are playing very well this year. It is a tough ask and a big, big game for us. We get them back at ours a week on Sunday, so it will be fun –we should know them pretty well by then.

“It is a question of us being accurate and clinical. If we play the game we know, the win should not be an issue. It is just the accuracy that we have been lacking.”

Birkett admits it is a major boost to have his second-row partner Simon Shaw and Wasps’ other internationals back at the Twyford training ground, adding: “It’s good to have the internationals back – now we have more strength and depth and we get to use absolutely everybody. We had a bit of a team outing on Sunday night so the squad could get back together. We had a beer, chilled out and watched some comedy at a club in Battersea, which was great considering we had not seen them for about a month.

“We are targeting five-point wins in the Heineken Cup from now on. However we do it, it has to happen. It is absolute desperation. Hopefully we can pull it out of the bag. There have been times when we have really needed the win and got it. We need that kind of mentality now.”

Labels: Edinburgh, Heineken Cup, London Wasps, Richard Birkett

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