HONEST Allan "Chunk" Jacobsen was in no mood for self delusion after Edinburgh opened their Heineken European Cup campaign with a 16-27 home defeat to Leinster which he labelled "unacceptable" and "depressing".
In apologising to fans for the collective non-display – the Dubliners had the bonus point win wrapped up when their fourth try went in even before half-time – Jacobsen effectively acknowledged that Edinburgh were little better than the team that has
finished bottom of their group for the last four years.
"That first half was unacceptable. I know the boys feel the same. We were just terrible in that first half."
However, Jacobsen rightly qualified his remarks by clinging to the hope that Edinburgh can sustain a second-half performance that saw them come back from 3-24 just before the interval.
"What we were doing in the second half we have to do from the start, and I don't think that's something you can train to do. You just have to be mentally right to do it, and we weren't.
"Next week we go to France and we will have to be right," added the internationalist, who at least figured in one of the more solid aspects of Edinburgh's performance – the scrimmage.
Overall, though, and despite his best efforts, team-man Jacobsen was inclined to hold his hands up for the dressing-room. Echoing what he'd said over the PA system while receiving an award for long service, the 30-year-old added: "I said at the end I had to apologise for the way we played in the first half and I know the boys, who are gutted, just gutted, feel the same. Everybody was guilty. We just missed one-on-one tackles (and) against those kind of players you are going to get punished.
"There's no reason for that, no excuse. It's a personal thing. It was everyone's fault. It was a bit of everything. Sometimes it is somebody making a mistake; sometimes it was guy's exposed because somebody else was not working hard enough and there was too much room to cover.
"You can take some comfort from the way we came back – but, we say that time and time again, blah, blah, blah."
Unable to answer why Edinburgh defended so poorly, Jacobsen posed a rhetorical question of his own; when are we going to change from being the gallant fight-backers?
He said: "We are just sick of it and it's hard to put your finger on things. We got told what to do in training and we train (for) what to do. (Then) we turn up in the first half and don't do it, although in the second half we are able to employ our tactics."
It has to be a moot point that Leinster were content on holding what they had, given the margin of their lead, and Jacobsen was big enough to concede this point.
He said: "At the end of the day it was unacceptable the way we performed from (no's) 1-15 in that first half. Depressing...
"There were a lot of mistakes they capitalised on and although we fought back in the European Cup against a team like Leinster you can't afford to give starts; you can't afford to give anybody starts.
"I've played in games where we have had bigger beatings. This time we had expectations of ourselves and our supporters expected more of us, so to go out and play like that first up at home leaves you battling to get through.
"We've got to perform week in, week out, for 80 minutes and we are not doing it.
"We'll train knowing we have to put it right not just in practice but in a game which we aim to do next week."
In raking through the ashes, the resolute Jacobsen at least showed himself to be in touch with the view from the terraces – one clarion call heard as the second half began was "c'mon Edinburgh, give us our money's worth" , although whether or not that fan felt suitably recompensed at the end of the match will never be known.
What is clear is that with Edinburgh heading now for Castres, by repeating that ineptitude they will, in rugby terms, be well and truly castrat...(you get the drift).
A team who had notched tries in just one of their five previous matches required a penalty try to get them over the whitewash here, which in itself is alarming although of more concern was the quality of Edinburgh's non-defence.
Attacking first of all from south to north at Murrayfield, it seemed Leinster could have started their moves in Morningside Road and still Edinburgh could not have been able to muster their forces in time to repel danger, so leaden-footed were they.
If Alastair Darling had spent the week plugging holes, at least his rescue plan for the financial markets was not quite sunk totally without trace in the same way that Edinburgh coach Andy Robinson's rearguard strategies were.
First up will be to look at the composition of the back row who, while all had moments individually, were given a lesson in swift re-grouping from disparate parts to erect barriers at breakdowns.
On the subject of approaches, Edinburgh had a mere couple, so far as a back division forced to watch what significant line-breaks there were come from forwards – Jim Hamilton and Alan MacDonald especially.
By contrast with that frontal duo, Edinburgh's lacklustre backs either employed the attacking hoof up the pitch from midfield forward to the Leinster 22, or the defensive hoof up pitch from their own 22 to midfield.
Either way, Edinburgh were a shambles and lacking the going-forward edge that took, in sequence, Rocky Elsom, Brian O'Driscoll, Felipe Contepomi and Shane Horgan in behind their lines.
To say that Leinster's second try contained not so much a forward pass as the equivalent of a baton-change in an athletics relay would be true but it would also be splitting hairs, given that the visitors missed an easy penalty and enjoyed overall superiority.
It was a day when they not so much overcame a Murrayfield bogey, mostly experienced against the coaching prowess of Frank Hadden and Todd Blackadder, as laid to waste any jinx based on one win from eight previous visits.
At least Edinburgh, whose other points came from the boot of both Phil Godman and Chris Paterson, live to hopefully fight another day with seemingly minimal injuries, although the same might not be said for their current coach according to those television commentators who fear Andy Robinson "might have blown a gasket" in looking to explain his extended perambulation from the stands to the touchline and the glare of cameras in order to protest a refereeing decision.
Sounds painful; then again it was that sort of a day for the majority in a crowd of 5376.
Scorers:Edinburgh: Try: penalty try. Con: Paterson. Pens: Paterson (2), Godman.
Leinster: Tries: Elsom, O'Driscoll, Contempomi, Horgan. Con: Contempomi (2). Pen: Contempomi.
Edinburgh: Paterson, Robertson (Houston, 50), Southwell ( D Blair, 77), De Luca, Webster, Godman, M Blair, captain, Jacobsen, Ford, Cross, Mustchin, J Hamilton (Gissing, 59), Newlands (C Hamilton, 72), Hogg, MacDonald.
Leinster: Dempsey, Horgan, O'Driscoll (Sexton, 78), Fitzgerald, Kearney, Contepomi, Whitaker (Keane, 68), Wright, Jackman (Fogarty, 73), Van der Linde, Cullen, captain, Toner, Elsom, Heaslip, Jennings.
Referee: Mr R Debney (England).
The full article contains 1241 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
