Richard Cockerill is clinging to the underdog tag for Edinburgh’s first 1872 Cup with Glasgow this weekend – even if the clear evidence suggests it’s his team that are favourites to ultimately retain the trophy.
The head coach of the capital club almost makes it an annual joke as he tries to find a way to avoid being favourites for any game, but especially for the matches against their rivals from along the M8.
“B****cks we are favourites,” he exclaimed. “They have got their own stadium, the Australian national coach, they have more budget, a bigger squad. They are in the Heineken Cup, we’re not. They are clearly a much better team than us.”
He was eventually forced to concede that Edinburgh have the momentum going into the first two festive season games, as they seek to retain the trophy they’ve won in both years Cockerill has been in charge.
“Yes, we have momentum but we have been playing in the Challenge Cup,” he said. “We have been working hard since I arrived to be durable and have respect when we play.
“If we get it right we can beat any team on its day, and even when we don’t play well like at the weekend (the 9-7 win at Wasps) we’re capable of staying in games and winning them.
“They have not been playing as well as they have over the past two years up till now, but we will keep building on what we are doing. We are going there to take as many points as we can as we want to be in the play-offs.”
This may be the time this season we see what the coach considers Edinburgh’s best team, as Cockerill has been much more willing to rotate his team, at least up until this week.
“I think we have shown that if we rotate the team we can still win and that builds trust,” he said. “Players have come in and would not necessarily be front-line players before, but have played very well.
“They will get the opportunity again. But the reality is that where possible I will pick the best team to beat Glasgow.
“They’re a good side and there’s a lot of threat about them. Their forward pack is probably playing as good as they’ve played, their line-out drive and defence is very good, they’ve scrummaged very well against the French teams in the last couple of rounds.
“I imagine they’re not particularly comfortable because they need to win games to sit well in the conference. Every time you play and you have to win, it puts pressure on teams.
“But it’s the same with us, we have to win because we want to take the points because the teams around us in our conference are very close.”
Cockerill couldn’t resist a little dig as usual – “Glasgow, notoriously, especially at home, they complain a lot and there is a lot of shouting and whinging especially from nine (George Horne), 10 (Adam Hastings) and two (Fraser Brown),” he added.
“I don’t think we’ve got a chip on our shoulder, we’re just going there to take the points because that’s what we want and we want to beat our local rivals because rivalry is good.
“That little bit of tribalism is good and I want us to go there and show what a good team we are.”
Cockerill confirmed a multi-year contract extension for centre George Taylor, who has been a real find this season.
“He has had an opportunity this year to get more starts than he thought he would because of injury, and he has taken his opportunity,” said the head coach of the 23-year-old.
“I have no problems in bringing players to play in the first team, but they have to seize their opportunity.
“Just because you come through the Academy or are Scottish doesn’t mean you get the chance to play for Edinburgh. You need to show something about what you are about as a player and George has done that.
“He is a good kid who has played well. He deserved his opportunity to play so I was keen to extend his contract.”
