The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Edinburgh determined after learning ‘brutal truths’
Toolis says side looking forward to chance to bounce back against Scarlets
Edinburgh’s players will front up to champions Scarlets tomorrow having learned some “brutal truths” from head coach Richard Cockerill.
Scotland lock Ben Toolis admitted the loss to Benetton on Friday had affected morale at the club but said the “robust” debrief had cleared the air.
“We knew what was coming, the meeting wasn’t enjoyable but at the same time it needed to happen,” he said.
“We knew we were going to face some honest truths. But that’s what we needed and maybe it has been lacking in the past, a bit of honesty.”
There’s no better challenge than the Guinness Pro14 champions to shake off last week’s disappointment, he added.
“I think it’s quite easy to front up to a strong team like Scarlets,” continued Toolis. “It’s always easy to get the motivation up for these games; it’s games against the likes of Benetton, when you are expected to win, that it can be harder to get that motivation.”
The formidable nature of the task isn’t lost on the lock. “Obviously it will be extremely difficult, especially down there, it’s a tough place to play,” he said.
“That being said, we beat them last year at home when they had big names playing, Jonathan Davies, John Barclay and James Davies among others.”
He knows Edinburgh have to pull together as a team, with Scarlets and Leinster on successive weeks.
“We had a couple of good results to start the season but the next couple of weeks are going to be very difficult,” he said.
“We’ve had this nature where you get into tough situations, feel like we’ll be fine, we’ll get out of it and win – but we never actually do.
“Sometimes maybe the team thinks one individual will do it and step up.
“We need to realise it’s a team effort and we all need to step up. That’s been a problem in the past.
“Against Cardiff and the Dragons we got out of the deep end, came away with the win and pushed on. There were positives there. It’s not going to happen overnight but I’m sure it will happen.”
“We’ve got a talented squad. I think it’s just coming out of our shells and realising the potential we have.
“We’ve beaten big teams in the past, games we weren’t expected to win. I think it’s more a consistency thing than a belief thing and getting a winning culture.”