I’d love to experience the thrill of European whirlwind once again
SAYS GRANT GILCHRIST
IT’s been six years since Edinburgh last made the rest of Europe truly sit up and take notice. Now, however, grant gilchrist believes they are finally in the perfect position to make their mark on the Continent once again.
The scotland lock was in his first season as a professional back in 2012 when the club defied expectations to reach the Heineken Cup semi-finals.
After a memorable quarter-final victory over Toulouse, a crowd of 37,881 fans at Murrayfield watched them narrowly lose 22-19 to Ulster in the last four.
Yet, since that April day, they haven’t come close to making the knockout stages again.
Indeed, for much of that time they couldn’t even make the tournament proper.
‘It was like a whirlwind back then,’ said gilchrist, who was just 21 when he played in that last-four defeat. ‘It was my first season with Edinburgh and I was just delighted to be playing and be involved.
‘We got ourselves in a good position early on in the group and beat Racing 92 home and away. All of a sudden, the final few European games started to become really, really exciting.’
A similar feeling permeates the Edinburgh camp just now as Richard Cockerill’s side sit proudly at the top of Pool Five of the Heineken Champions Cup. An away win over Newcastle Falcons at the weekend will take them a step closer to gracing the knockout stage once again.
‘I have been here for six years as a professional and this is our only chance to get to the knockout stages of Europe since then,’ continued gilchrist. ‘We’ve certainly been poor in the Champions Cup ever since back in 2012.
‘These opportunities to do well in Europe don’t come along every year. When they do, you really want to savour it and make sure you put your best foot forward.
‘It is now in our hands, we understand that. We are top of our European pool, which was always the goal. The first two European weekends, there was a real buzz about the squad anyway but that has gone up, certainly after last weekend when we beat Newcastle at home with a bonus point.’
Back in the 2011/2012 season, Edinburgh had a star-studded side with the likes of scotland internationals Mike Blair, greig Laidlaw, Tim Visser, David Denton, Allan Jacobsen and geoff Cross, all of whom have either retired or moved on.
Ross Ford and Matt scott, both of whom played in the 2012 Heineken Cup semi-final, remain at the club but are unlikely to play against the Falcons.
That leaves gilchrist as the last man standing from the semi-final. And while he believes his side may not have the star names from back then, he insists they have more depth in their squad.
‘We definitely have a lot more strength across the board than we did back then when we probably had only a strong 23,’ said gilchrist. ‘It was almost the same starting XV week on week.
‘You can see there is a depth now in our squad, though we were hampered a bit by injuries in key positions during the international period. With everyone fit, we definitely have a stronger squad and it means that we can change guys in and out to be effective.’
gilchrist admits there was some trepidation after the draw, with Edinburgh in a group that included French giants Toulon and Montpellier, as well as Newcastle. After all, they hadn’t qualified for the top competition for the previous three seasons and had to make do with playing in the lesser European Challenge Cup.
‘There was a nervous energy around the squad about how we would cope and we didn’t know how we would go,’ he said. ‘We hadn’t qualified for the Champions Cup for a few years and were not sure how well equipped we were to handle the step back up to the top tournament.
‘To begin with, we were just excited to be playing in the Champions Cup and really challenging ourselves but now we are in the frame to qualify.’
Although Edinburgh saw off Newcastle 31-13 at Murrayfield last weekend, gilchrist realises the English side will have some of their injured players back and be thirsting for revenge.
‘It is going to be tough down at Newcastle and although we beat them at home, we have to be better,’ he continued.
‘If the conditions are as bad as they were last Friday night, then I think we’d want to play in a similar style but I think we have shown in our European games so far there is a lot more to us than just forward play.
‘We have a dangerous back line that moved the ball a lot in our games against Montpellier and Toulon when the weather allowed us to.
‘If it is a good afternoon on sunday, we will hopefully play a bit like that again.’
ALL BLACKs coach steve Hansen will step down from the job at the conclusion of next year’s World Cup in Japan, it was confirmed last night.
Hansen, 59, has been involved with the side since 2004, first as an assistant to graham Henry and then as head coach after the 2011 World Cup.
He has fashioned an unrivalled record in the professional era, having won 85 of his 96 games in charge.