HODGE LOOKING FOR A LEADING LIGHT TO SHINE
EDINBURGH head to Leinster tonight aiming to kick-start their Guinness Pro12 campaign with the same kind of challenges now facing Scotland.
As Greig Laidlaw’s injury caused headaches for national boss Vern Cotter, Edinburgh take on Leinster without either of their co-captains, Grant Gilchrist and Stuart McInally in the starting line-up and the rest of their experienced core injured or in the Scotland camp preparing to play Wales next weekend.
Acting head coach Duncan Hodge is delighted that 33-year-old Neil Cochrane has recovered from the injury that kept him out of the loss at Ulster last week, and agreed that the lack of experienced leaders was a factor in recent drop-offs.
Now it is a time for leaders to stand up, but with Cotter’s former Scotland captain Gilchrist only on the bench and McInally joining Viliame Mata, Viliami Fihaki and Nasi Manu, also nursing injuries, finding them is a challenge.
‘It’s not easy,’ said Hodge. ‘He (Gilchrist) played a lot earlier in the season and, probably by his own admission, didn’t play quite as well as he would have wanted, so we are just looking for a few things for him to improve on to get back to his best.
‘It’s not the easiest with guys going away and coming back from the national camp late in the week, but we’re looking for him to do well tomorrow night.
‘All of our experienced guys — Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, WP Nel, McInally and John Hardie — are away but it is just one of these challenges.
‘Boys like Chris Dean and Magnus Bradbury have come in and done a good job (as leaders). They’re learning a lot during this period and it has given them a chance to flourish.’
Meanwhile, Tom Brown has agreed a two-year extension to his contract with the side and the 26-year-old admitted he did not consider a move away from his home city as he believes the squad capable of joining Glasgow and vying for Pro12 and European honours in the next two years.
For Hodge, the challenge is more immediate but, while waiting to hear if he is to be given the job full-time, he continues to strengthen the squad for next season and maintain motivation for the remaining eight games in the Pro12 and the European Challenge Cup quarter-final against La Rochelle in six weeks.
‘At the minute, I am helping plan everything,’ he added. ‘So we’re planning for next year as is, and someone will decide on myself, but yes, the focus is on winning games now.
‘The last two weeks have been frustrating because we’ve got very, very close to two very good sides, and we’ve just not got over the line — but we have another opportunity (in Dublin), and then have two home games, so the big games keep rolling in.
‘There were times last week when we played some great stuff and then let them off the hook with these little decision-making errors that are really hurting us.
‘But we are learning. Leinster are a good team with a lot of resources, but it is probably what we need because we need to keep testing ourselves against the best teams.’