MIND OVER MATA IN QUALIFYING BID
EDINBURGH star Bill Mata insists the club won’t give up on qualification for next season’s Champions Cup without a fight. Saturday night’s home defeat to Munster leaves Edinburgh second bottom in Conference B of the Pro14 and with a mountain to climb. With only the top three guaranteed to qualify for the Champions Cup, Richard Cockerill’s men are currently 11 points behind third-placed Scarlets. They do, however, still have two games in hand over the Welsh side and host them at BT Murrayfield on Saturday. That encounter now looks to be a must-win for Edinburgh — and Mata has vowed to keep battling despite a seventh defeat in 11 games so far this term. ‘We are all in the same group and everyone is fighting for the top three at the moment,’ said the Fijian back-rower, who recently signed a new three-year deal with the club. ‘We are behind Scarlets and Cardiff. We were hoping to get a point out of the Munster match, but now we just have to look forward to Scarlets next week. ‘With a few of the boys in the (Scotland) national team, it is just about young ones stepping up. ‘It doesn’t really change much but they just have to be able to play week in, week out. Everybody is getting a chance to play.’ With fellow back-rowers Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson also signing new deals, Mata added: ‘With the three of us staying, and a few more, I think we are building up and have a couple more seasons in us. ‘Hopefully we can do something for Edinburgh in the coming seasons.’ Mata scored Edinburgh’s only try of the night against Munster, but the Irish side were far too powerful up front for Cockerill’s men. Tries from flanker Jack O’Donoghue, scrum-half Craig Casey and No8 Gavin Coombes were enough to secure an impressive victory. Munster cemented their position as the runaway leaders in Conference B and will surely go on to contest the final, most probably against Leinster, at the end of March.