Cockerill keeps the faith for Edinburgh

EDINBURGH’S hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions Cup may have been damaged by their 22-10 loss to Munster on Saturday night, but they have certainly not been extinguished, according to head coach Richard Cockerill.

A top-three finish is the only guarantee of a berth in European rugby’s premier competition, and Edinburgh, who have five games left, are 11 points adrift of third-placed Scarlets in PRO14 Conference B. However, they have two matches in hand on the Welsh side, who they meet at Murrayfield on Saturday in what Cockerill believes has become one of a run of must-win matches for his team.

“We’ve got to beat the sides about us, which is Scarlets next week, then Benetton,” the head coach said. “Those are our next two games, so we’ve got to get the points from both those games, it’s as simple as that.

“We play Cardiff, we play Connacht, we play Dragons, so there’s still an opportunity for us to get into the top three. That’s our objective and we’ll keep aiming for that.”

Victory in four of those five remaining games could conceivably be enough for Edinburgh to achieve that objective, but to do that they will have to play at a consistently higher level than they have been able to do so far this season, in which they have only won four out of their 11 league games. They will also be without a majority of their Scotland internationals, making their task all the more implausible.

“Obviously, we’ll have very few of our Test players back for this period. That’s just the nature of it,” Cockerill said. “Our Test players will be unavailable for two-thirds of this season, which is the way this season has turned out to be. Nobody’s fault, but we just need to keep battling on.”

Meanwhile, Rufus McLean has agreed a contract extension with Glasgow after impressing head coach Danny Wilson during his first season as a professional.

The 20-year-old, who was on the wing against Ulster on Friday but can also play at fullback, made his debut against Edinburgh in January and was invited to train with the full Scotland squad this month.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC and Naomi Osaka leave

Melbourne with the big silverware after claiming the men’s and women’s titles at the Australian Open.

For Djokovic it was a ninth title from as many finals, while Osaka lifted a Grand Slam trophy for the fourth time at the end of a challenging fortnight for players and organisers.

Here, we pick out five things we learned...

1 Putting on tournaments is hard

Australian Open organisers can breathe a huge sigh of relief and sleep for the first time in months. The tournament made it to its conclusion and, most importantly, it was not the source of any outbreaks of coronavirus in the Melbourne community.

But staging the event has come at massive cost. With limited fans allowed – and none during a five-day lockdown – plus the great expense of providing charter flights and funding quarantine, tournament director Craig Tiley estimated losses would amount to around A$100 million (about £56m), wiping out Tennis Australia’s surplus and forcing them to take a loan.

Although the vaccine rollout offers significant hope that times will soon be easier, for now putting on a tennis tournament is akin to running a marathon while jumping over hurdles.

2 Djokovic still reigning

Even though he has now won nine titles from as many finals, Djokovic’s greatness at Melbourne Park still feels underestimated. There were even suggestions that Daniil Medvedev was the favourite going into the final such was the Russian’s impressive form but he was left looking helpless on the court in the face of Djokovic’s brilliance.

There is no doubt the 33-year-old is motivated by keeping the younger generation at bay and this result puts the lid on all talk of a changing of the guard for a bit longer. 3

Osaka No.1

Ashleigh Barty may be top of the women’s rankings still but there is no doubt Osaka is the leading female player of the moment, both on and off the court. She has now won four of the last six Grand Slams on hard courts and, crucially, has now embraced life in the limelight and is comfortable with the expectations placed on her shoulders.

It has been a treat to see the 23-year-old grow into her status and her global profile will lessen the blow when Serena and Venus Williams eventually leave the stage. The challenge for Osaka now is to become a force on grass and clay.

4

Serena’s quest continues

Was it a wave goodbye or a see you next year? Only Serena Williams knows whether the lingering look she gave Rod Laver Arena after her semi-final defeat by Osaka had any greater significance.

What was clear was how much the defeat hurt, with Williams leaving her postmatch press conference in tears. At 39, time for her to win that much-coveted 24th Grand Slam singles title is running out. But Williams really is not far away, and the improvements she made to her fitness and movement during the off-season bode well for the rest of the year.

5

Tennis needs Kyrgios Love him or hate him, and there are plenty in both categories, it is impossible to ignore Nick Kyrgios. His willingness to shoot his mouth off is distasteful at times but also refreshing in a sport where too many players are afraid to express an opinion that might earn them negative headlines. And on court he brings an energy and excitement that no one else can match.

His matches against Ugo Humbert and Dominic Thiem were dramatic and captivating – the latter was the most watched non-news programme on TV in Australia this year.

Whether he fulfils his talent or not, the sport is undoubtedly more interesting for his presence.