Magnus Bradbury laments Edinburgh's long history of "emotional and mental lapses"
03/24/2025 04:57 AM
EDINBURGH stalwart Magnus Bradbury believes "emotional and mental lapses" have plagued the club in a fruitless search for consistency lasting more than a decade.
Bradbury started at No. 8 as the capital club collapsed in the final five minutes away to Benetton on Saturday, surrendering a lead they had held for the entire second half when Mosese Tuipulotu's red card was followed by a last-gasp Alessandro Izekor try.
The result was a particularly painful one for the travelling fans, coming off the back of a statement win in Munster that offered a fragile hint that Sean Everitt's talented but unpredictable side had turned a corner.
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Victory in Cork marked only Edinburgh's second away win of the season and they haven't won back-to-back league away games since beating Zebre and Cardiff in October 2022.
That stark reality wasn't lost on 29-year-old back rower Bradbury, who has been with Edinburgh since 2014 barring a two-year hiatus at Bristol Bears.
"I would love to have backed it up tonight," Bradbury said after the game. "But I've been at Edinburgh for a long time now and the whole time I've been here, even in the early years in 2014-2015, we would play amazing one week, beat Munster away for example, and the week after we have a lull.
"We try to address that in training and keep the standards high, but it's like we just have those emotional and mental lapses.
"The team we've got is amazing, the players are amazing, we can put away any team when we want to. It's just how can we do that back to back. It's the mental side of it for us."
When asked why Edinburgh repeatedly fall into the same trap, he said: "I'd be a very rich man if I could answer that question."
Edinburgh were punished in the closing stages when they surrendered strong field position, lost Tuipulotu for a dangerous shoulder-to-head tackle, and were exposed by Benetton's pace out wide for Izekor's match-winning score.
"We've done a lot of work but the way I see the game is that we're in control, we do two or three amazing things, get field position, and we switch off. Find our way back, field position, two or three great things, switch off," Bradbury said.
"We talked this week about how the harder you work, the luckier you get. We saw that; the harder you work, you get the bounce of the ball. The flip side is if you switch off for two or three phases, that's where you end up."
One positive was the impact of teenage flanker Freddy Douglas, who replaced openside Hamish Watson for the final 15 minutes and made two crucial turnovers on halfway to relieve pressure.
The 19-year-old is a rising star in the Scottish game and made his full Scotland debut against Portugal during the Autumn Tests before he had made his Edinburgh bow.
After impressing in the Under-20 Six Nations, scoring three tries including an outstanding individual effort against France and winning a joint-best eight breakdown steals, he was given a chance from the bench by Everitt in the absence of the injured Luke Crosbie.
Bradbury backed the teenager to continue his rapid ascent and believes competition from some illustrious and seasoned team-mates will help rather than hinder his progress.
"He's quality. He's got a big future ahead of him," Bradbury said. "He's definitely got that young boy nature about him where he's a bit quiet and nervous, but I imagine he'll play quite a bit this season with Luke Crosbie getting injured.
"There is that space up for grabs now and what's exciting for him is he's challenging Mish (Watson), he's going up against a Lion.
"You don't get that opportunity much to try and prove yourself against someone of that calibre. I hope he sees that and plays well because he's an exciting prospect."
A different dressing room culture could also aid Douglas in his development, according to Bradbury.
"A change we've made at training as leaders is to challenge the young boys to speak to the older boys," said the number eight.
"If we can't be challenged by someone who sees things differently to us, how can we expect to grow as a group? I've had young boys come to me during the week and say 'you're not doing that right' or 'this could be better'.
"Ben Muncaster is a great example. A couple of years ago you would tell him what to do, coach him through, help with his game, and he's a starter now. I don't think Freddy is far away from that. In the next two or three seasons he's going to be brilliant."
Douglas was described as an "X-factor player" by Everitt before the trip to Italy and the head coach admitted that Scotland's youngest male international since 1963 is doing everything he can to make back-row selection a tricky task.
"We will have a look and see what our stocks are after this weekend, check the injuries. He's got some stiff competition in that position," Everitt said.
"You've got Jamie Ritchie, who was one of the standout players in the Six Nations for Scotland, he will be back and can play seven too.
"Hamish Watson, I thought for the 60 minutes he was on the field he was outstanding today.
"There is tough competition, but at the same time if Freddy keeps making these impactful contributions on the field, you can't ignore that. We certainly do rate him as a rugby player and a URC player."
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