Physical and mental toughness key for Blair

EDINBURGH coach Mike Blair is convinced that his team’s return to winning ways since the turn of the year has come about as a result of their improvement in key aspects of their game. Above all, Blair believes his squad have become both mentally and physically tougher in adversity, a characteristic that could be crucial when his team meet Saracens in their last Champions Cup pool game on Sunday.

Since winning just once in six attempts over the last two months of 2022, Edinburgh have won both their matches this year, against Zebre in the URC and against Castres in the Cup. Blair believes that a careful analysis of what was going wrong has been a vital factor in turning narrow defeats into victories.

“We’ve been looking at the last three or four games, about what is the difference between winning and losing,” he said. “We asked if we were doing everything we could in terms of our work rate off the ball, and we identified this as an area we can get better at. I’ve definitely seen growth in that side of things. When we’re tired we’re not feeling as sorry for ourselves, we’re getting up and saying ‘ This is important’, and we’re working collectively as a team to do that. So that’s something that we’ve improved on.”

They may need to improve again, however, if they are to make it three wins in a row when Saracens visit. Sunday’s win at Castres has secured Edinburgh a place in the last- 16, but they still probably need a win against the London club to finish in the top four in Pool A. That would give them a home draw in the next round and in the quarter- finals if they get that far.

“It’s really important,” Blair added. “We’ve had a little tick in the box that we’ve got to the knockout stages, which is the first thing, but the big thing is can we get that home win? Because that makes a big difference. There’s some pretty tough opposition in this competition when it gets to the last- 16, so it will be great to get that home game.

“We’re also aware what a tough test it’s going to be against Saracens. They’ve looked excellent.”