The Scotsman

A product worth sampling to bring the fans flocking to Myreside

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have achieved at Scotstoun in the last few years.

Of course, the key aspect in that comparison is that Glasgow first built a successful, entertaini­ng, ultimately championsh­ip-winning team more than worth the price of an ever-scarcer ticket and that is surely the key to making the Myreside move, which started as a six-game trial in January, a success after years of underperfo­rming malaise at the capital club. Edinburgh might be muchmoreof­arugbycity­than its football-obsessed western rival but there remains a suspicion that the capital market may be a bit too middle class, with more deeply-entrenched club loyalties, to create the kind of raucous atmosphere­s experience­d at big Scotstoun nights.

After a solid start to the Richard Cockerill era, the challenge is to prove that perception wrong. Moves have been made to address teething problems of last season and provide a better match-night experience to supporters, but Edinburgh defence coach Calum Macrae is adamant that the first responsibi­lity is on the management and players to create a product worth sampling.

“All supporters look to buy into and affiliate with a team they respect,” he said. “They see the qualities that we all want to see in respect of the Scottish people and Scottish players. We are not going to win every single game this year, we have to be realistic in our mindset, but one of the things that we can expect from our players is that they will go to the wall every single game.”

0 Attendance at Myreside on Friday was well below capacity.

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