Cockerill set to give

Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill is poised to hand the club captaincy to a young, up-and-coming player in a bid to underline the message that this is a fresh start for the under-performing capital side.

Glasgow have gone with relative experience, appointing 28-year-old, 30-times capped Ryan Wilson as their skipper for the new season yesterday. But Cockerill said he would be looking to give youth a chance.

“With respect to some of the senior guys, they’ve been captains and it’s not worked,” was the Englishman’s blunt assessment at yesterday’s Guinness Pro14 launch in Dublin yesterday.

“So I’m going to look to try to bring one of those younger players through.”

Scotland internationalists Grant Gilchrist and Stuart Mcinally initially shared the captaincy last season but, with both struggling with injury and form, it was Scotland’s most-capped player Ross Ford who latterly took on the mantle as yet another disappointing season unfolded.

“We’ll announce [the captain] next week,” said Cockerill, pictured. “I will look to