EDINBURGH coach Mike Blair has selected Charlie Savala as one of five changes to his team to face Glasgow tonight, praising the young Australian’s self-belief and contrasting it with what he regards as a defeatist streak within Scottish sporting culture.
Blair could have selected Scotland international Jaco van der Walt to start at No 10, but instead has named him on the bench. Blair Kinghorn was also in with a chance of being passed fit again after suffering a back spasm and being replaced by Savala early in last week’s Champions Cup win over Castres.
In the event, however, he insisted he had every confidence in the 22-year-old Savala, who qualifies for Scotland as his father is from Ayr but was himself born and bred in Sydney. “Charlie has developed a huge amount over the last 18 months,” Blair said. “He is leading our attack well, his understanding of momentum is much improved, and he did well when he came on against Castres in a high-pressure game.
“Blair might have been OK, but it wasn’t right and we have confidence in Charlie. We’re happy to give Charlie an opportunity.
“He certainly backs himself. He’s very confident in his own ability and you get that coming through the Australian environment. It is something that is really important, particularly for someone playing at ten.”
Many stand-offs do possess that strong sense of self-belief, including Kinghorn and Finn Russell. Yet while Scots who grow up in that position may be paragons of positive thinking, Blair is convinced that in general there is a profoundly pessimistic element in our sporting psyche which contrasts with the mentality in both Australia and England.
“There is definitely a rhetoric around Scottish sport with the way things are perceived. A number of people I know, whether it’s around a rugby club or their own houses, will say, ‘Aw, Scotland have thrown the game away!’ and you grow up on that. People talk about glorious failure and ‘If anyone’s going to throw it away it’ll be Scotland’.
“This undertone has been created, whereas the Australians and the English have a real confidence about what they are doing and they believe they are the best. What we’ve got to do is keep pushing that we can be the best.
“I do believe, growing up in Scottish rugby, people like to talk about the failures - but we don’t talk too much about the successes we’ve had. Our job is to build the players up and for them to trust they’ve got the talent.
“I remember on the Lions tour that I was on, and speaking to the Scottish people who have been on other Lions tours, and we come back and say ‘These guys aren’t better than us!’ There’s just that element of belief we need to instil in the guys, because we’ve got quality players within Edinburgh and quality players within Scotland.”
Savala is one of three changes made by Blair to his back division for the game at Scotstoun, which is both a regular URC fixture and also the first leg of this season’s 1872 Cup. As expected, Duhan van der Merwe returns on the wing after being a late call-off from the Castres match because of an ankle injury, while the in-form Chris Dean is back at inside centre.
There are two changes in the pack, where Tom Cruse will make his first start for Edinburgh after two appearances off the bench, and Connor Boyle returns to the back row. They replace the injured Stuart McInally and the rested Luke Crosbie respectively.
The return of Van der Merwe in particular suggests that Edinburgh’s starting line-up, although altered, is not significantly weaker, if at all, compared to the one that began against Castres. Even so, Blair implied that his team will go into the match at Scotstoun as underdogs against the Warriors, who have a 100 percent record at home in the league so far this year.
“Glasgow have picked a really strong team,” he added. ”We’re aware of the momentum they’ve been able to gain in their game playing at home, which is based on their physicality and their will to play and move the ball. And the crowd have definitely got behind the Glasgow way of playing.
“The back row in particular is really strong, and the back three as well, so they’ve got loads of talent. But we match them up and we’ve got a good, exciting team as well. So I think it will be a great game.”
Details
Edinburgh (v Glasgow at Scotstoun, Friday 23 December, 7.35pm): E Boffelli; W Goosen, J Lang, C Dean, D van der Merwe; C Savala, B Vellacott; P Schoeman, T Cruse, W Nel, G Young, G Gilchrist, J Ritchie, C Boyle, V Mata. Substitutes P Harrison, B Venter, A Williams, M Sykes, B Muncaster, H Pyrgos, J van der Walt, C Scott.
