Gilchrist praises Blair effect

EDINBURGH captain Grant Gilchrist has seen his fair share of false dawns during his 11 years at the club — but he insists a bright new day is coming under head coach Mike Blair.

Gilchrist, who has played under nine coaches since signing for Edinburgh back in 2011, believes the club is heading in the right direction despite their United Rugby Championship play-off quarter-final defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town.

Looking back on the campaign as a whole — one in which a place in the Heineken Champions Cup was secured — he believes his team can go from strength to strength.

‘As a team, we believe this is only the start of our journey in our first season with new coaching staff and the heart and the character of this team is clear to see,’ said Gilchrist. ‘We are heading in the right direction but we need to learn to be better on these big occasions.’

Scotland international Magnus Bradbury, in his last appearance before joining Bristol Bears, finished on a low point as a yellow card for a dangerous tackle tipped the game the way of the South African side.

Up until that point, the match had hung in the balance at 10-10 following a try from the visitors’ David Cherry and a conversion and a penalty from Emiliano Boffelli.

With Bradbury in the sin bin, the hosts scored their second try early in the second half and added another after 54 minutes to go further clear.

Henry Pyrgos crossed for another Edinburgh try but it is the South Africans who go on to play Ulster in Cape Town in the semi-finals.