PERFORMANCE GIVES WATSON TOULON BELIEF

EDINBURGH’S Hamish Watson believes his side can beat Toulon after running Montpellier so close in the Champions Cup.

The back-row forward was in the heart of the action in the narrow 21-15 defeat in France. He was heartbroken not at just the defeat but also because the TMO ruled out a touchdown from Simon Hickey that he set up.

Watson still believes his side is in the hunt for qualification from their pool after picking up a losing bonus point in a game in which Edinburgh finished with their heads held high.

The Scotland international said: ‘We are going to have to play well to do it, but if you look at our team, it is full of Scotland players and we have been doing reasonably well when we’ve been playing for Scotland against France, so there is no reason to say we cannot beat Toulon.

‘Murrayfield is a great place for Toulon to come and play next weekend. Some of their players will have played here before with France, so they’ll know the pitch, but remember we’re doing pretty well at home this season.

‘I suppose Toulon haven’t had a great start by their standards in the Top14, but in Europe they seem to turn it on most years. They’ve obviously got so many dangerous players so we’ll have to be at our best if we want to get a result.’

Watson said Edinburgh will prepare in the same way they did for the Montpellier game.

‘I think the build-up is slightly different to the Pro14 when it comes to Europe,’ he said. ‘It does feel more like a Test week.

‘You are up against some good opposition and a lot of talent, and international players, so it is going to be a tough game. We are going to have to be at our best.’