Hodge remains positive despite Ospreys loss

• 14 September 2019
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​Following Edinburgh’s narrow Principal & Prosper Pre-Season friendly loss to Ospreys at BT Murrayfield this afternoon, Attack Coach Duncan Hodge remained in a positive mood, insisting that the capital club have plenty of positives to build on heading into this month’s Guinness PRO14 season opener against Zebre.

“The big thing is, there was a lot of positives there – a lot of good work – but if you look back at the points they scored, they were pretty soft. Two driving lineout tries and one try that they picked up and ran in from 40 yards out.

“We scored three, dropped two over the line and we had another couple of chances as well, so there’s a lot to like, but there’s also quite a bit to learn on – which is a great thing.

“We’ve got two weeks now to prepare for the first league game and some of that is on the game management side, but there’s also just some individual little errors – and they’re going to happen – but they all just built up, and potentially we should have been a lot clearer ahead than we were.”

With Ospreys fielding a full-strength side, this afternoon’s clash was the perfect dress rehearsal for the Guinness PRO14 opening encounter against Zebre in two week’s time.

“That’s their full team, and they’re a good side, especially upfront. They’ve got some good players – a good back three, and the likes of (Hanno) Dirksen, (Keelan) Giles and Cory Allen – they’re a great side.”

“There was lots of good defence in there, and we got through some sets. Bizarrely, apart from the three tries, they didn’t really look like scoring again, so that’s frustrating but I suppose that’s the kind of fine margins that we’re working on at this level - that’s what we’ve got to eradicate.

“It wasn’t the biggest game of the season today, the biggest game of the season is the one coming up next, so that’s what we’ve got to keep our focus on and just take it from there.”