DAVID SOLE

Edinburgh head coach, Richard Cockerill, will be eager to lose his team’s tag of being the “nearly men” of knock-out matches.

After dominating the majority of last Saturday’s Pro14 semi-final against Ulster at Murrayfield, the hosts could not hold on to close out the game in the final 20 minutes.

It was a bitter pill to swallow. Last year, Edinburgh suffered at the hands of Munster in the Champions Cup quarter-final, another game they should have won.

It is a habit Cockerill will be eager for them to break.

At least the Edinburgh season isn’t over yet, as it is at the other end of the M8.

There is a visit to Bordeaux to negotiate in the European Challenge Cup – another quarter final.

It is hard enough playing knock-out rugby at home.

But in the south-west of France, the players’ mentality has to be spot-on.

If Edinburgh are to progress, they will have to do it the hard way, which might not be a bad thing.

The pain of the Ulster defeat should be inspiring for them.

Cockerill will no doubt be at pains to ensure that his players have learned from the Ulster match, and that they bring a ruthlessness to their play.

Should they get ahead against Bordeaux, they need to bring more

‘ It may be time to carry out a review of the disciplinary process

steel and discipline to their game, and shut things down.

At least Edinburgh have a second chance. They can’t let it pass them by.

Down south, meanwhile, there has been a absolute storm of controversy regarding the England captain, Owen Farrell.

The fly-half was sent off playing for Saracens against Wasps last Saturday for a tackle which was incredibly dangerous, and left the Wasps replacement full-back in some difficulty.

There was no question that the red card was deserved.

But at the disciplinary meeting, Farrell received a ban of only five weeks, which caused uproar on social media.

Many felt he was being treated favourably compared to others in order to enable his availability for the autumn internationals.

Farrell has a habit of both leading with his shoulder going into tackles, and failing to wrap his arms around the player he is tackling.

He has often been treated quite leniently by referees in the past, who have failed to penalise him or show him a yellow card.

Other players, without his reputation and standing in world rugby, have not been so fortunate.

It may be time to carry out a review of the disciplinary process to ensure that accusations of favouritism or leniency don’t create another uproar.

Yet another issue that World Rugby could cast their eyes over as governors of the global game.