Cockerill agrees new deal with Edinburgh
Richard Cock er ill has agreed a contract exten - sion which ties him to Edinburgh Rugby for the next three seasons.
The 49-year- old former and Leicester and Toulon coach has been a huge success in the Scottish capital since taking over at the underperforming pro team in 2017.
He has led the club to the Guinness Pro 14 playoffs twice, and the capital side face a home semifinal against Ulster a tB T Murrayfield a week on Saturday. He has also made progress in Europe, guiding Edinburgh to the quarter- finals of both the European Challenge Cup and Heineken Champions Cup. They have also won the 1872 Cups on three occasions, the last of which was on Saturday when Glasgow were defeated 30-15 behind closed doors at BT Murrayfield as rugby resumed following the Covid-enforced shutdown.
Cockerill’s current con - tract, like that of S cotland head coach Gregor Townsend, is due to expire at the end of the 2020 -21 season, and SRU chief executive Mark Dodson has been confident that both men can be kept in post.
The first of that double goal has been accomplished, with Cock er ill
agreeing a two-year extension. Dodson told the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast: “Despite interest from lots of other places, an agree - men th as been reached and I’m delighted he’s staying. He’s doing a fantastic job and he wants to make sure we take Edinburgh to the next level.
“We’ve got the exciting moment now with the new Edinburgh stadium to be commissioned at the end of the year and we’ve got this incredible group of players that he’s brought through and developed into a really competitive team.”
Dodson has always been relaxed that Cockerill could be kept in place despite his achieve - ments at Edinburgh catching eyes elsewhere.
The former England hooker has been an ideal fit in the capital over the past three years. His appointment was viewed as a bit of a coup, albeit one with an element of risk attached as Cockerill is known for speaking his mind and rattling cages. It has proved to be just what has been needed to drag Edinburgh out of their lingering malaise and the coach indicated recently that there was a strong likelihood that he would stay beyond 2021.
Speaking earlier this month, Cockerill said: “I’ve invested a lot of time and effort, physical an demotional, into this project. At this point, the age demo - graphic of our squad and where we are at the moment means that if we are going to get to the end of it and see some success then I want to be here to see that.
“I’ll be damned if I’m letting someone else take over and ride on the back of what we’ve built. This club is now respected in the Pro14, when we’ve played in Europe we’ve done very well and that’s a big credit to everyone involved.”
Co ckerill will name his team at noon today for tomorrow’s match against Glasgow back at B TM urray field, which will see 700 fans attend in a first for Scottish sport and British rugby since the coronavirus shutdown.
● Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams has been ruled out of the Six Nations match against Scotland on 31 October with a serious shoulder injury.