A breath of fresh air in the capital city all thanks to Cockerill

EDINBURGH are lucky to have Richard Cockerill as head coach — with their victory over Agen the latest impressive result of his time in charge.

The bonus-point win over the French outfit takes them into the knockout stages of the European Challenge Cup. Things are also going well in the league, with his team top of Conference B of the Pro14 and looking good to make the end of season play-offs.

Competing in Europe and in the league in the same season is a big ask but Cockerill has the coaching experience to make it happen.

It is no surprise that Edinburgh are having a great season as the Englishman is the right man for the club at just the right time and he has been like a breath of fresh air since he took over.

What makes him such a good coach is that, among other things, he is a honest, straight-talking guy. He never tries to sugar-coat anything. Every player knows exactly where he stands under Cockerill, which is a good position to be in.

To be successful as a coach you have to have experienced both the highs and the lows of the game and learned how to deal with both. Cockerill has done that.

He had a very successful playing career with England and also Leicester Tigers as a player and a coach. When the Tigers sacked him it would have hit him hard initially but he wasn’t down for long. He became an assistant at Toulon, then interim head coach of the club, before he joined Edinburgh.

He has taken the group of players he inherited who were under-performing and turned them into a side that look horrible to play against and are hard to beat. They have a steel in them, a real tough attitude that was maybe lacking a bit in the past.

Edinburgh had a reputation of being a bit flaky in previous years and would let wins slip through their fingers. Not any more. They know they have to be switched on 100 per cent for 80 minutes in every game or Cockerill will be down on them like a ton of bricks.

What I learned from my time in club rugby in Scotland, at Sale Sharks and in France with Clermont Auvergne, is that you have to front up every week. Inconsistency won’t do. Cockerill knows that and quite rightly keeps on and on at his players, demanding the best out of them.

He also deserves credit for taking punts on relatively unknown players from abroad like winger Duhan van der Merwe. The South African has been a massive success since Cockerill signed him and he could yet turn out for Scotland as he qualifies through residency in the summer.

Cockerill has also helped revitalise the career of Scottish players who have improved on his watch. A prime example of that is centre Matt Scott who, for a variety of reasons, didn’t settle at Gloucester but has been in great form for Edinburgh.

This season Cockerill has brought together a top group of young players — Jamie Ritchie is an Edinburgh and Scotland captain in the waiting — and some decent overseas pros that include players with stardust such as the big Fijian international Bill Mata at No 8.

The whole Edinburgh team has come on leaps and bounds under Cockerill and this could be a very special year for the club.