Edinburgh need to find identity to reach potential, says John Barclay

Edinburgh need to find a real identity if they are to live up to the talent at their disposal according to former Scotland captain John Barclay.

The side from the capital will kick off their Investec Champions Cup campaign against French giants Toulon on Sunday before another clash with French opposition away to Castres the following week.

And while Edinburgh have no shortage of star power at their disposal, not least, British & Irish Lions wing duo Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe, Barclay is not convinced they are making the most of their talent.

A hard-fought win over a depleted Ospreys side last week saw them move into 10th spot in the United Rugby Championship although they have a game in hand on most of those around them.

And in a challenging Champions Cup pool, Barclay wants to see more from Sean Everitt’s team.

“For a couple of seasons, Edinburgh have underperformed for the sum of their parts I think,” said Barclay, who is part of the TV team delivering the Champions and Challenge Cup for Premier Sports this season.

“They are competitive but they just seem almost like Scotland to a certain extent, not quite at it sometimes.

“They can be hard to figure out sometimes, they can be fantastic one week and less than fantastic the following week.

“They probably haven’t settled on their first-choice 9-10-12-13 which doesn’t help. Chopping and changing there, it’s great to have different guys coming in but what is the identity of the team and the style of play you are trying to use?

“That will be the challenge, I think they will handle themselves up front but the challenge will be controlling the game at nine and 10 and the midfield area.”

With Gloucester and Gallagher PREM champions Bath also in their pool, Edinburgh face a tough challenge to go far in the competition, although they did have four players involved on the Lions Tour.

Add in Springbok regular Boan Venter in the front row, and there is plenty of star power at the Hive and Barclay believes that the key to maximising their potential will be getting more out of Van der Merwe on the wing.

He added: “I think Duhan would say himself that he was frustrated with the Lions, he probably doesn’t fit into Andy Farrell’s model of winger. But you are seeing a willingness to evolve his game. You see he is looking for offloads, contesting more in the air.

“Duhan has to be a big player for Edinburgh, they have kept hold of him. He and Darcy are the two pinup boys of Edinburgh Rugby, those are the guys so let’s see the best of them every week.

“If those two play well every single week and touch the ball into the 10s, 12, 13 times, Edinburgh will play well. That is the challenge for the coaching group and the players. The more they touch the ball, it’s not rocket science, the better chance they have of winning.”

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