COCKERILL WILL HONOUR EDINBURGH DEAL
RICHARD COCKERILL has told the SRU he will still be taking charge of Edinburgh despite being appointed head coach of French giants Toulon until the end of the season. The Englishman has given reassurances he will honour the contract he has signed with the capital club and will join in the summer as agreed. He was put in control of first-team affairs at Toulon after Mike Ford left following their European Champions Cup quarterfinal loss to Clermont at the weekend. Former French captain Fabien Galthie is favourite to take over at Toulon at the end of the season. Former England defence coach Ford, 51, only joined the French club in October, but losing to another Top14 team in Europe was the final straw for demanding owner Mourad Boudjellal. Cockerill began working with Ford in January after he was sacked by Leicester Tigers soon after they lost 43-0 to Glasgow Warriors in the European Champions Cup group stage. He has made a big impression on the Toulon players and will take temporary charge. Meanwhile, Edinburgh full-back Glenn Bryce believes Cockerill’s experience and know-how will be invaluable for the capital side next season. ‘When I was at Glasgow, there was lots of players with 60-odd caps, so — as a young player — I was able to pick their brains all the time,’ said the 25-year-old. ‘At Edinburgh, it is a young squad and we’re still trying to gain that experience. It is not going to happen overnight, but Richard Cockerill is coming in next year and he will want to put his stamp on things.’ In the meantime, Bryce is confident that Edinburgh can end a seven-match losing streak by working even harder in training. ‘It obviously is hard to stay positive, but you’ve just got to keep training hard and, hopefully, one day it is all going to come together,’ added Bryce.