For some teams, the World Cup period was a time to get through. Stay in the hunt and wait for reinforcements. Edinburgh, for example, had 13 players in action in Japan, 12 for Scotland along with the incomparable Bill Mata with Fiji. In the back row alone they found themselves deprived of John Barclay, Hamish Watson, Jamie Ritchie, Magnus Bradbury and No.8 Mata.
