The Spirit of 2012 was all over Edinburgh’s surprise Heineken Cup victory over Munster on Saturday, but skipper Greig Laidlaw wants a more consistent vintage in the coming weeks.
Laidlaw celebrated both his 28th birthday and his 500th point in Edinburgh colours with a man of the match performance in all facets most notably in defence as the capital side defeated the twice-champions 29-23 and reminded their beleaguered fans of the glory days of their semi-final run two years ago.
But the trend of that 2012 campaign brilliant in Europe while poor in domestic competition is not going to be tolerated this time, vowed the captain.
“We need to get away from that kind of inconsistency,” he said.
“We had a good first half last week, an 80-minute performance this week and now it’s about building on that for Perpignan next week, but continuing it when we turn back to the league.
“It’s only our second win of the season but although it was a really good one, we’ll keep our feet on the ground.”
With only one win from five prior to Saturday, Laidlaw admitted he had questioned himself about the direction Edinburgh were going.
“You do come in day after day when you’re not picking up wins and think, where are we going next?” he said.
“But I believed we were on the right track and this is the confidence boost.
“The coaching team are working behind the scenes putting things in place and we’re starting to get there now. We won’t get overexcited, but we’re happy with this win.”
There had been the first real murmurings of discontent with the new direction of head coach Alan Solomons prior to this game, but the wily veteran coach maybe had an inkling of what was going to happen when he warned on Friday that “we’ll know exactly where we are” after this particular game.
Solomons stuck to the mantra of “a gradual process” and insisting that Edinburgh had been improving week-on-week, but there’s no question that they were lifted on Saturday by their general Laidlaw, up to full speed after an early-season injury, and the return of Matt Scott to the centre.
The 22-year-old, out with an ankle problem since the Scotland tour of South Africa where he impressed so much, returned with top gear fully engaged and three breaks in the long build-up that led to his own early try.
The presence of that duo and a first start for new recruit Cornell du Preez, who put in a gargantuan shift in attack and defence, helped lift the rest of the side to their best collective performance.
The real foundation for Edinburgh’s success was in Laidlaw’s ubiquitous presence, hounding the opposition in defence, pinning them back with his kicking game and landing 19 points with the boot, but also in the fundamentals of set-piece and defence.
The scrummage was under pressure only once, when Munster had just put on two fresh props, but the rest of the time it was rock solid or had the visitors under some pressure.
The lineout was excellent on their own ball and a nuisance on Munster’s, the latter a crucial element when the defence was under pressure in a half-hour period of the second half when the visitors owned all the possession and territory.
It was probably the kind of game that the “old” Munster would have won by attrition, but the “new” version played too fast and loose and Edinburgh were able to capitalise on mistakes, not least the one that saw JJ Hanrahan try a chip kick out of defence from his own 22 when his side were just four points ahead.
The replacement full-back crumpled unconvincingly under pressure from Scott, but Grant Gilchrist, an outstanding presence all day, plucked the ball out of the air and re-redirected it to Tim Visser, who doesn’t turn down such gift-wrapped opportunities.
Laidlaw’s tenacity forced a penalty that took Edinburgh clear, and he even took a long penalty shot at the end probably out of his range but knowing that the time taken would give Munster no time to respond, hitting the crossbar with the effort his only miss of the day.