Everitt issues bullish Edinburgh defence amid URC top-four target

Edinburgh lost their opening three league fixtures with their alarming collapse in the first half against the Lions applying scrutiny on Everitt.

There was privately a feeling within the Edinburgh camp that the denunciation over losing a record 48 first-half points in South Africa went overboard but they silenced their critics in the perfect manner with an excellent 38-7 win over the Stormers on Saturday. 

Read more:

• Five things we learned as Edinburgh bounce back to beat Stormers
• Sean Everitt 'proud' of Edinburgh response after 'difficult' week
• Mark Fletcher: Edinburgh delivered 'reaction' against Stormers

Edinburgh’s clinical bonus-point display was the Stormers’ record defeat since joining the URC in 2021 and Everitt was determined to highlight that statistic as he doubled down on his top-four target - the capital side rose to ninth after their weekend triumph.

He said: “I know that we conceded a record 48 points in the first half against the Lions but I don’t think anyone has mentioned that we inflicted the biggest defeat on the Stormers in the URC. We are happy with that but we need to build on that. 

“We looked at the first three games being away and the South African tour as a block and we looked at the next three separately.

"But everybody in the URC will have looked at the first six-week block and it’s important for us to end it strongly because last week was a step in the right direction. 

On whether Edinburgh could still realistically finish in the top four, Everitt added: "Definitely. Going into round five of the competition, we're climbing up the ladder.

"We've got one win that's just taken us from second last to ninth, so things change really quickly - obviously we're looking for a full house of points against Cardiff at home. We haven't forgotten the [Lions] game, that's fresh in the players' minds - they know they need to back up the performance of last week, to change everyone's opinion of the team.

Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt (Image: SNS) “We know how important home games are, especially in this competition. We have experience in this squad at test match level so that does help. It’s about us driving the processes in each aspect of the game - transitions, set-piece attack and defence.

"That was our focus last week and we know where we went wrong against the Lions - it was in the executions of our kicks and the turnovers. I was happy with the penalty count last week and our turnovers because we made life easier for ourselves. It wasn’t like we had to go back to the drawing board because we knew what went wrong.” 

The importance of confidence in professional sport is difficult to underestimate and it should be racing through the veins of the Edinburgh squad after ending their five-game losing streak against the Stormers. 

They will be favourites to back up their impressive display on Friday by beating Cardiff at Hive Stadium on Saturday night and Everitt insists his squad are growing in belief after notching their first win of the season.  

Ben Muncaster celebrates his first try with Magnus Bradbury and Ali Price (Image: SNS) “What we didn’t want to do was lose that home game because we’d maybe take a look at the deeper things in sport, like the mindset,” Everitt admitted.

“There was a lot of character shown against a really good Stormers team, who are quite relentless in their defence. We had to work really hard for our tries, I know the Stormers coaches really well and they take great pride in their defence. They’ve always been strong defensively, so we did well to get over the line and to score 38 points against previous winners of the competition was a massive confidence boost.

“We had one of our best weeks of training last week and I know there was determination in the group.

"The leaders took over really well and drove the standards in training - that’s what we expect from our experienced leadership group. This week the guys are determined to back it up because they enjoyed that feeling of winning again.”

While Jamie Richite will miss out against Cardiff, Harry Patterson is in line to make his first appearance of the season but Edinburgh have been dealt a major blow with injury to Javan Sebastian. 

The Scotland international sustained a nasty shoulder injury playing for Edinburgh ‘A’ and Everitt admits the prognosis isn’t good.

“Javan unfortunately got injured in the 79th minute at Bath and it doesn't look too good for him going forward,” he admitted.

Javan Sebastian is set for a lengthy spell out (Image: SNS) “So he'll be seeking a surgeon's opinion on Friday, just to see the way forward in repairing the AC injury that he has.

"It is for the guy that struggled  - he was going well in the pre-season - it was the first full pre season that he has had and he showed great potential and unfortunately in that internal friendly, he got a whack on the quad, which put him out of selection for Leinster and then going to South Africa. 

"It's a shame but that's the nature of the game and let's hope it's not too serious.”