‘ Edinburgh have us working harder than at Glasgow’
After Scotstoun exit, Davidson believes Cockerill runs a tighter ship in the capital
JUST a few months since his move from Glasgow, and with only a handful of games under his belt, Andrew Davidson is convinced that he is already becoming a better player at Edinburgh.
Although his two years with the Warriors were frustrating, largely because of his limited game time, the 23- year- old lock feels able to look back affectionately on his stay with his hometown team. Nonetheless, he believes that, at least in some respects, standards are higher under Richard Cockerill at Murrayfield than they were at Scotstoun – a factor which he thinks wholly vindicates his decision to move east.
“Just how hard the boys work – I think that’s the main thing,” Davidson said when asked what he had found was the biggest difference between his new and former teams. “Everyone buys into it and everyone works really hard. The intensity in training, the contact aspects, all the things that you expect, are much higher at Edinburgh.
“It’s tough and it’s challenging at times, but you feel better for it and it makes you a better player in the long run. It’s definitely been different. It’s a tough environment, training’s hard, everyone’s at a good level, because Cockers has been there for a few years now, so coming in as a new boy you get to that level quickly. It’s quite a steep learning curve.
“Physically I feel like I’m getting better, and gamewise, just week on week doing the small skills that forwards need to learn. Learning from someone like Cockers and the coaches with their experience is massive, and the boys have been really good as well, so I’m really enjoying it.”
Davidson may be really enjoying it now, but he admitted that he found life at Edinburgh gruelling at first as he worked hard to live up to the standards that were being demanded of him by the head coach. “After we had four weeks of individual training during the early return- to- play stage, then that first week back [ of training in groups] was one of the toughest weeks of training I’ve had as a professional. There was a point at the end of that week where I thought ‘ Right, this is what it’s going to be like for the rest of my time here’.
“And Cockers told me that when he met me. He said
‘ Look, it’s not going to be easy, but you’re going to be better for it, and you’re going to be playing better for it’.
“So you’ve just got to get your head down and get on with the work. It’s tough, but at the end of the day it’s rewarding.”
The initiative for the move came from Cockerill and SRU performance director Jim Mallinder, and the reasoning behind it was simple: having been at Glasgow, then London Scottish, then Newcastle then Glasgow again, Davidson was at the stage of his career where he needed to play more regularly if he was going to fulfil his evident potential. It was a conclusion that the
player himself had already reached.
“I met with Cockers prelockdown, and Jim Mallinder at Murrayfield. I was honest with them about how I was feeling at Glasgow, how much I was playing, and they were honest with me about where they would see me in the [ Edinburgh] team.
“Both Cockers and Jim said it was down to me, and it made the decision easier because there was no exterior pressure coming through. I went with what I thought was the best.
“I was frustrated at the time, but looking back on it I realise I enjoyed my time at Glasgow. I didn’t play much, it was a good group of guys, but I’m really enjoying Edinburgh. I’m happy with my decision. It’s one that I didn’t take lightly.”
Three of Davidson’s four appearances to date for Cockerill’s team have come off the bench, but he looks sure
to become a regular starter over the international window, presuming first- choice locks Grant Gilchrist and Ben Toolis are called up by Scotland. With the national squad due to be announced next week, Saturday’s PRO14 game against Munster will be the last before December in which Edinburgh have their full complement available to them.
“There’s always a lot of forwards in that Scotland squad from Edinburgh, so the chances are there’s going to be quite a few boys away,”
Davidson added. “I’m looking forward to hopefully getting an opportunity to get a bit more game time.
“I’ve been in and around the team most weeks since I arrived, which is good, just learning the plays and getting up to speed with everything, so hopefully get a good opportunity to get some decent game time under my belt in those eight weeks. After this Munster game I think we have a week off, then we’re pretty much into the thick of it, so there won’t be much time off.”