Nottingham steamrollered on Edinburgh’s Premier debut

It’s not often that a team captain thinks his squad should let the other team have the ball more often. But Edinburgh University’s 53-6 rout of Nottingham University Oct. 12 left captain James Morrison considering how Edinburgh might do well to give opponents a little space when contending for the ball.

“We know that no one can get through our defense, so we need to just let them have the ball, let them come at us, and let them make mistakes,” he said. “As soon as we can cut down our penalties the scores should get even bigger.”

Morrison wasn’t exaggerating about Edinburgh’s defense; they were effective in stifling the few offensive efforts their opponents made, and Nottingham struggled to find space in Edinburgh’s defensive wall. In the second half, Nottingham had managed to start connecting passes, but they still were not quick enough to slip through for a try at any time in the game.

Conversely, Edinburgh created holes in the Nottingham defense from start to finish. Edinburgh scored three tries early before Nottingham even saw the scoreboard, only managing to do so with a penalty midway through the first half.

Nottingham continued to slowly press into Edinburgh’s defensive end and earned another before Edinburgh reclaimed their dominant momentum and held onto it for the rest of the game. Those two first half penalties marked the only 6 points Nottingham earned in the entire match.

Edinburgh responded with a try from Callum Williams and a conversion from Robert Cuthbertson. Cuthbertson chased his conversion with a try that exemplified the type of play Nottingham had been struggling to create throughout. Under pressure in the centre, Edinburgh switched the play with a kick to the left side; Cuthbertson and Rory Jones turned up the pressure and created a rapid Edinburgh try out of nothing.

Though those two tries came late in the half, Edinburgh weren’t quite finished and made one more try to end the half ahead 34-6. Edinburgh’s easy lead allowed them to sit back and pressure slightly less in the second half. Meanwhile, Nottingham were turning up the heat to try and avoid a try-less match. Yet Edinburgh’s defense never faltered.

“You just make sure you have a solid wall,” Morrison said of his team’s ability to avoid second-half complacency. “You know when you’re working as a team, no one can get through that one.” By the final whistle, Nottingham were still struggling to redeem themselves on the scoreboard with a final offensive effort, while Edinburgh had earned three more tries and two more conversions.

According to Morrison, the 53-6 blowout was an important accomplishment for his team, with Edinburgh having only been promoted to the BUCS Premier North league this year.
“We had no real idea what the opposition was going to look like,” he said. “We couldn’t have dreamed of a score like this.”