COCKERILL CAN PROPEL EDINBURGH INTO TOP SIX
RICHARD COCKERILL was in a jovial, smiley mood as the sun shone on the Scottish capital this week, but the former Leicester and England hooker left no doubts that he is taking a hard line on striving to lift Edinburgh from the doldrums.
The 46-year-old is perhaps best remembered for the moments before kick-off on his England debut in 1997, when he stood in the face of All Blacks hooker Norm Hewitt during the haka.
But from his ruthless reputation as part of the famed Leicester ‘ABC’ front row, to criticism about Sir Clive Woodward’s leadership that made sure his England career ended on 27 caps, Cockerill finds it impossible to take a step back.
When Alan Solomons took over at Edinburgh, he insisted he would change the culture and like Michael Bradley before him, he made positive in-roads in areas that required attention.
It was not enough, however. Cockerill made similar promises this week, but one anticipates the culture change will have a different emphasis.
Asked about expectation, he growled that it was ridiculous for people to imagine that Edinburgh were a top-six club when they continually finish in the bottom four. He knows that having a plethora of internationalists does not equate to Test quality at Leicester or Toulon, adding ‘everyone seems to have a cap’.
Cockerill is not dismissive of Scottish talent, however. Far from it. He resisted a clear-out of personnel partly because he had little money for big signings and the SRU instructed him to invest more faith in native talent, but also because he liked the look of young Edinburgh players last season and in the Under-20 World Cup.
There will be no new signings before the season kicks off and, while refusing to rule out adding to the squad later, he admitted: ‘We don’t have queues of worldclass players wanting to join us or the finance to do it.’
He is clear that to achieve the desired improvement in consistency everything must revolve around Edinburgh, not Scotland. In Cockerill-speak, it means training on Sundays and more, if needed, and if you don’t hit 90-100 per cent in every game for the club, kiss your Scotland hopes goodbye as you won’t be playing regularly.
Test men will get their rests, he said, in line with protocols designed to keep players fit and healthy, but when they play there can be no ‘easing in’ or ‘easing off’ because Scotland games are looming.
That warning to established stars came with glowing praise of the skills of youngsters like Darcy Graham, the winger signed from Hawick, Scotland Under-20 captain Callum Hunter-Hill and back-row Luke Crosbie, a product of Livingston and Currie, and a clear message that he is not afraid to start any of them in their first pro season.
When asked if enjoyment was also part of the mix he would use to get more out of the squad as a whole, Cockerill replied: ‘Without a doubt, but what’s enjoyment? It’s working hard, trying to win, getting a sense of fulfilment when you’ve played.
‘I want us to be a positive team — even when we kick the ball. I want people to roll their sleeves up, grit their teeth and get into the middle of it so the people who come to watch can see that Darcy Graham cares, Blair Kinghorn cares, Ben Toolis is in the middle of the s**t-fight and Ross Ford is leading the charge.
‘Because that is what we identify with. That’s what we cheer. People keep telling me the Edinburgh crowd is really quiet, well, I’m not surprised — we’ve given them f*** all to cheer about.
‘From what I’ve seen, the players are better than what I thought but I am going to drive them hard every day to be as good as they can be; not just a bit better than the next best player, but really as good as they can be.
‘You could take six of these players and put them in a French team or a Premiership team and they wouldn’t look out of place, but how hard are they willing to work? Geoff Parling sat on the bench for Newcastle and within 12 months of moving to Leicester he was playing for England.
‘The player is no different, it’s just the environment he is in. We have to change the environment; that’s the starting point.’ Edinburgh could perhaps not have asked for a more motivated leader, then, as they seek to find a way to emulate Glasgow Warriors’ rise of the past decade.
‘I am going to fight our corner every day, for the team,’ he added. ‘That is my commitment to this group. I will fight for every penny, for what we need, and support you (players), but in return I need this from you and that is how I have always worked, love it or hate it. It can’t be me giving the whole time — they need to front up.
‘So, when we lose, we go back on Sunday morning and work hard; and when we win, we go back on Sunday morning and work hard.
‘We have to keep attacking it on a consistent basis and not have the rollercoaster of when we win it is brilliant and when we lose it is the end of the world. We’ve got to keep that consistency of mindset, mentality and work ethic during the week — and if we do that we’ll put ourselves in a position to win more games than we lose.’
That, as a start, would make a pleasant change for Edinburgh.