Double joy in Europe will bring credibility

THIS is a huge two weeks for Scottish Rugby. There’s a chance that both Edinburgh and Glasgow could be in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup by the conclusion of next weekend. Two Scottish sides in the best eight teams in Europe. I’ll let that just sink in for a while. Professional rugby has been tough on the Scottish game. It took us almost 15 years to get to a place where both teams were competitive and fully professional. This has meant we have been playing catch-up all that time and it was painful for many years. The Scottish sides were seen as cannon fodder in the European Cup. Other teams were delighted when they were drawn in their group. They saw it as a chance to get a full ten match points, with bonus-point wins home and away. There was the odd good season, most notably when Edinburgh got to the semi-final in 2012, beating Toulouse in a quarterfinal at Murrayfield when 38,000 fans turned up to watch. This highlighted the latent support that was there, but one that only comes out with sustained success. Sadly, Edinburgh didn’t push on — quite the opposite actually — and it wasn’t until 2017 when Scotland saw another team in the knockout stage as Glasgow played Saracens. Another phenomenal support turned up that day, with 6,000 Warriors fans creating an incredible atmosphere. But, yet again, Glasgow didn’t use this to push forward and only won one group game last season, albeit in a very tough section. This is where you get credibility. It is where other teams and countries really take note of you. Look at Ireland as a good example. There has been a real focus on the European Cup and, unsurprisingly, Ulster, Munster and Leinster have their names on the trophy, the latter two multiple times. Ireland has used these triumphs as a springboard to success at international level. We’ve not had that kind of success, but there’s a real chance of it this year. With two matches left to play, Edinburgh are leading their group and Glasgow are in second place, but with a good points total so far that could see them qualify as one of the best three runners-up from the five groups. The situation is simple: both teams win both of their games and we’ll have two sides in the quarter-finals for the first time. It could be even easier than that because, if Glasgow and Edinburgh win this weekend and other results go their way, both could have qualified with one game to spare. Edinburgh have been brilliant in Europe. They maybe should have beaten Montpellier in France but have then defeated Toulon at BT Murrayfield, and Newcastle home and away, to be in control of their own destiny. Toulon away used to be the fixture you would dread most when they won the Heineken Cup three years running. Not so now. In fact, it’s probably easier than Montpellier at Murrayfield next week because Toulon have nothing to play for. Richard Cockerill’s men can go all out for the victory, knowing they will have another chance of qualifying next week if it doesn’t go to plan today. I fancy Edinburgh to win but I also expect Montpellier to beat Newcastle to set up a winner-takes-all game at Murrayfield next Friday. A bonus-point win for Glasgow over Cardiff tomorrow is essential after they didn’t manage one against Lyon at Scotstoun before Christmas. This would get them to 19 points and could be enough to get through without having to worry about what happens in their last game away to Saracens — not a place where you would want to have to win to qualify. Dave Rennie’s side are on a terrible run but have the quality to snap out of it quickly. I’m backing Glasgow to turn their form around and get the win and the crucial bonus point.