Edinburgh Rugby reaction: Everitt praises bravery and details what needs worked on after Ulster loss

The sides scored four tries apiece in an entertaining friendly but the visitors came out on top after Ross Thompson struck the post with a late conversion attempt.

Geordie Gwynn, Hector Patterson, Paul Hill and Conor McAlpine crossed for Edinburgh, with James McCormick, Aitzol Arenzana-King, Matthew Devine and Eric O’Sullivan replying for Ulster.

Edinburgh, missing their Scotland contingent, fielded a number of academy players and Scotland Under-20 internationals and head coach Everitt was mostly pleased with what he saw in his side’s first outing ahead of the new United Rugby Championship season starting on September 25.

“We’ve got a few weeks to go, with a lot of work on as well. I think it was just good to see the confidence the guys had in moving the ball, and that’s what we said we wanted to do,” said Everitt.

“Obviously with being more aggressive in defence, the issues around that is that you get too narrow and you get too far ahead, but that’s something that we’ll work on as well. So we’ve got to be better in the contact area.

“I thought the guys were really brave. We had some youngsters out there that really did well. I thought Christian Lindsay was good. James Dalrymple, too. You know, [he’s] 18 years old. This guy came up here against a good Ulster team. So a lot of positives to take out of that.

“I’m happy with the new guys and what they’ve produced this evening. As always, there’ll always be work on for us, but it was great that we could have a look at our players against different opposition.”

Edinburgh overhauled their coaching staff over the summer, bringing in three new specialists in defence, attack and skills/contact. Brad Davis has taken over from Michael Todd as defence coach and is trying to instill a faster, more aggressive approach. Everitt admitted it would take time to bed in.

“Yes, it does take time,” said the head coach. “But at the end of the day, hopefully they can take a lot of confidence out of tonight.

“It is a confidence thing because you’re worried about missing tackles. And you will miss more tackles when you have an aggressive line speed. And I’ve coached that before and I know that.

“So the more we train, and obviously we’ve got a few weeks left of training, and we’ve got a game against Harlequins [on September 18], I’m sure we’ll give the guys confidence to make us ready for that first round.”

Conditions were difficult, with a strong wind gusting around the Hive, and Everitt felt his players picked the wrong option a couple of times.

“I just thought there were two occasions where we probably should have moved the ball and we had momentum and he decided to kick into the wind and they made us pay on that,” he said.

“They scored two tries from our contestable kicks that went above our heads in the wind. So I would have preferred to move the ball there. But, once again, a young nine, a new team, we’ll learn.”

Edinburgh fielded a different team in each half and there were first appearances for new signings Gwynn, the centre recruited from Ealing Trailfinders, stand-off James Grayson, who has arrived from Japan, Kienan Higgins, the New Zealand-born centre signed from New England, and Scotland prop Alec Hepburn, formerly of the Scarlets.

Gwynn looked sharp and took his try well while Grayson converted both of Edinburgh’s first-half tries. Hepburn was a steady presence and Higgins almost scored in the second half.

There was a strong performance from hooker Harri Morris who missed the end of last season although he left the pitch bloodied at half-time and will now be assessed.

“He’s an energy bunny and he certainly puts his body on the line every week,” said Everitt.

“He’s worked hard at his game and he’s trained incredibly hard. He does that every day. So, yes, it’s pleasing to see him come through, especially in a position where he’s got injuries.”