Edinburgh plan to invoke the spirit of that “crazy game” earlier in the competition to overcome another injury crisis heading into the European Challenge Cup semi-final against the Dragons at tonight.
Scotland wing Dougie Fife believes the way the team responded to the chaos of five injured players in the first half of their home pool match against Lyon means they have no fears to being without more key men for tonight’s game, the second European semi-final at BT Murrayfield in four years.
The club have made seven changes for the semi-final, with frontline players like David Denton, Greig Tonks, Hamish Watson and Tomas Leonardi all missing out and joining Matt Scott and Grant Gilchrist among the long-term wounded.
Denton and Leonardi have both not passed concussion protocols in time for selection while Tonks and Watson were late decisions with hamstring injuries.
However Fife believes that having come through the carnage of the Lyon game earlier in the competition when Gilchrist suffered his season-ending broken arm – nothing is in surmountable for the squad.
“We’ve worked so hard to get there, we had a really tough pool, a good win away in France and then there was that crazy game with so many injuries here against Lyon,” he recalled.
“Even before the game we had two guys, including myself, pulling out late with injuries, then we lost five more in the game itself. But it shows the depth of the squad, we had hookers playing back row, guys completely out of position and everyone just dug in and got on with it.
“We can use that spirit again; boys have come in throughout the season because of the injuries we’ve had and adapted. Tim (Visser) was in the back row at London Irish for a bit and I had to go in a scrum against Cardiff this season.
“We just have to use that and remember what we’ve done to get here. Boys have literally broken bones for us to reach this stage and we can’t let anyone down now.”
Such is the lack of back rowers that Stuart McInally, nominally changed to hooker this season, is back at his old day job on the blindside while Cornell du Preez, thought to be out for the season after his fearsome ankle dislocation six months ago, is on the bench.
“It’s just one of those things and we’ve had to deal with it through the season,” said head coach Alan Solomons. “We have had a very challenging season, to say the least, with an inordinate injury list, as evidenced by the fact we go into this game with five front-line players out.
“They’re all international players, three of whom would be in the starting 15 for Scotland. We have not had a game this season when we have been at full strength.
“So when I look at the whole season in context, I think the players have done incredibly well. For us to be in the position of having a home semi-final in Europe and being on the cusp of the top six in the PRO12 – all the staff and the players must take a lot of credit for that.”
The injuries have had an upside in allowing the likes of Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and Ben Toolis to seize their chances, but Solomons admitted they were down to the bare bones for this week, specifically in the back row.
“Stuart McInally is doing exceptionally wlel in the change to hooker but he’s still a quality back rower and a dynamic footballer,” he said, adding that there had been no temptation to pitch Du Preez back into the side.
“He just hasn’t played enough rugby,” he continued. “He has completely recovered from the injury, but we were never going to do anything other than bench him.
“It is better for him to come off the bench rather than start. When the game has been running for 50 or 60 minutes it is a different kind of game. There is a big difference between starting coming off the bench.”
Du Preez has had three weeks full-contact training with the squad having got back for this game when the initial prognosis had him missing the remainder of the season.
Solomons has also made tactical switches, with Phil Burleigh moving to fly-half for only the second time in the competition in preference to Tom Heathcote, who started last week in the loss to Munster.
“Phil played at 10 in the first Bordeaux game, he is a very experienced player and he has played a hell of a lot of Super Rugby games all over the pitch.
“He is your classic New Zealand first/second five-eighth and we’ve looked at him and Tom’s games as a whole and we feel this is the appropriate selection.”
The coach also set aside time for the squad with former international referee Tappe Henning to review the defence of the driving maul, a Dragons’ strength and where Munster made hay in their victory last week.
However the veteran coach doesn’t feel that Edinburgh’s backs are against the wall tonight.
“No, it is more that everyone is just looking forward and is excited about playing in the semi-final at Murrayfield,” he said.
“That is the atmosphere. It’s a big occasion; it’s not often in a player’s career that you get a home semi-final in competition, and you’re desperate to make it a memorable one.”
Edinburgh (vs Dragons, European Rugby Challenge Cup semi-final, BT Murrayfield, ko 7.45pm)
Jack Cuthbert; Dougie Fife, Sam Beard, Andries Strauss, Tim Visser; Phil Burleigh, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne; Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, WP Nel; Anton Bresler, Ben Toolis; Stuart McInally, Roddy Grant, Mike Coman (capt).
Replacements: Neil Cochrane, Rory Sutherland, John Andress, Fraser McKenzie, Cornell du Preez, Nathan Fowles, Tom Heathcote, Tom Brown.