Edinburgh won’t win title but Cockerill will restore pride in jersey

GIVEN the lack of quality in the Edinburgh squad inherited by Richard Cockerill, it’s no surprise that he isn’t making any grand pre-season predictions.

The Englishman may be a top-class coach, but he’s no miracle worker.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie, by contrast, is justifiably suggesting his team have what it takes to win the Pro14 title. You’ll hear no such talk from Cockerill (below).

‘We’ve been a bottom-four team, so why should we even be in the play-offs?’ was his honest assessment.

That isn’t being defeatist. Just realistic.

Turning an underachieving team into title contenders in his first season would be one of the biggest successes of his coaching career.

For that to happen, he needs to bring out the best in a group of players who have been part of a collective malaise at the capital club for too long now.

Take Hamish Watson, for instance. Cockerill’s already made a mistake by picking Magnus Bradbury as captain ahead of him, but the Scotland international definitely has what it takes to improve Edinburgh.

Grant Gilchrist, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and Duncan Weir are also a lot better than what they showed last season, while new signing Robbie Fruean can help make a difference. The new coach should be boosted, too, by the return from injury of WP Nel and the fact that Ben Toolis has been revitalised after some fine performances for Scotland over the summer. Cockerill has been his usual abrasive self in pre-season training and has left his squad in no doubt he is going to be on their backs every minute of every day in a bid to drive up standards. How they react will be a test of character. He’s a completely different personality to laid-back predecessor Alan Solomons. The players have to stand up and be counted in their tough opening fixture away to Cardiff Blues tomorrow. Edinburgh already have injury problems in a key position. Loosehead props Alasdair Dickinson, Allan Dell and Rory Sutherland are all unavailable until November at the earliest. The arrival on a six-week deal of Italian international prop Michele Rizzo, who can’t get a game for Leicester, shows how desperate Cockerill is for experienced cover. A win looks beyond them at this juncture. However, with Cockerill in command, at least we’ll see an Edinburgh team giving 100-per-cent commitment and not allowing their heads to drop, which happened far too often last season.