COCKERILL BRINGS FIRE TO EDINBURGH
Cockerill on mission to light up Edinburgh
RICHARD Cockerill has been ordered to light a fire under the ailing Edinburgh players to try to restore the capital club to its former glories.
The new Edinburgh coach became famous as an England player after going eyeball to eyeball with Norm Hewitt of New Zealand during the haka at Twickenham in 1997 and has taken a similar confrontational approach to his coaching career.
With a reputation as a hard taskmaster with an in-your-face attitude on the training pitch, the former Leicester Tigers director of rugby has been told by senior SRU figures to crack the whip when he takes over next season.
The SRU believe Edinburgh are looked upon as a soft touch in the Guinness Pro12, where they currently sit a lowly ninth after winning just four out of 15 league matches — and they want Cockerill to toughen them up.
The straight-talking Cockerill, who has signed a two-year deal, is confident he can do just that and improve the fortunes of a club that has been left in the shadow of Glasgow Warriors in recent years.
‘I am very much looking forward to a new challenge and the opportunity at Edinburgh Rugby ticked all the boxes,’ said the man who is working as a consultant under Mike Ford at Toulon until the end of the season. ‘Edinburgh is a real rugby city and the club has a lot of potential to grow, on and off the pitch.
‘The conversations I had with Scottish Rugby chief executive Mark Dodson and director of rugby Scott Johnson were instrumental in understanding what the vision for Edinburgh Rugby is. It is a project I’m excited to be a part of.
‘I’m also relishing the chance of coaching in the Pro12 and working with a clearly talented group of players.’
Cockerill insists he is not bitter about his exit from Leicester and that Edinburgh will reap the benefits of the highs and lows he has been through in recent years.
‘That’s what experience gives you and I know I am all the better for the things that have happened to me, which is why I will be a better coach at Edinburgh than I was at Leicester,’ he said.
‘Edinburgh have never finished higher than eighth in the Pro12, so we will all have to get used to new ways and new outlooks. I want to win things but that simply isn’t going to happen straight away.
‘The first question I will put to the staff is to ask them what they think the identity of Edinburgh Rugby is and go from there. Clearly whatever they have been doing hasn’t worked out as well as they would’ve liked. Perhaps everyone has been a bit comfortable. There will have to be change, in me as well as in everyone else.’
Cockerill also bristles at the suggestion that his coaching style begins and ends with ranting and raving at his players.
‘The whole dressing-room stuff is just not true,’ he added. ‘I know there is a pantomime villain feel to some of it but I wouldn’t have survived as long as I did if all I ever did was b **** ck people. I do have a competitive edge and I do like to project that. But I also like to think that I have an intelligent and articulate perspective on rugby, too. Whatever I may look like, I am not some old dinosaur.’
The SRU have pulled off a major coup in securing such a highly experienced coach, who had also attracted the interest of French giants Clermont Auvergne.
Significantly, the Top 14 side wanted Cockerill to join their backroom staff as forwards coach with the offer to be his own man at Edinburgh far more appealing.
Edinburgh’s acting head coach Duncan Hodge, who took over when Alan Solomons was sacked in October, will revert to his role as backs coach next season. The other Edinburgh assistant head coaches, Stevie Scott and Pete Wilkins, will also be kept on for at least one more season.
Hodge, Scott and Wilkins will effectively be on trial as they are all contracted to the summer of 2018, which gives Cockerill a year to assess his backroom set up.
There has been no declaration as yet from the SRU over whether Cockerill’s player budget would be increased from the £4.9million they spent this season.
Scotland centre Mark Bennett will join from Glasgow in the summer but adding further star quality to the Edinburgh squad will be a priority for the 46-year-old Englishman.
He will also need funds to keep top players like Scotland internationals John Hardie, Grant Gilchrist and WP Nel, who are all out of contract this summer.
SRU chief executive Mark Dodson said he was delighted to bring in the former Tigers head coach, who lost his job in January after heavy defeats to Glasgow and Munster in the European Champions Cup.
‘I am very pleased to have secured Richard’s services, given how highly sought after he was from leading clubs across Europe,’ said Dodson.