COCKERILL SEES SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE CAPITAL DESPITE LEINSTER LOSS

EDINBURGH head coach Richard Cockerill said he was thrilled with the effort of his players as they came up just short of a losing bonus point at Leinster.

The capital men began their campaign brilliantly with back-toback wins over Cardiff Blues and Dragons but their season turned sour after that, succumbing to defeats at home to Benetton and away against champions Scarlets.

But they almost caused a massive upset in Dublin on Friday night.

Jason Tovey scored all 13 points but Jamie Ritchie was yellow carded in the secondhalf and Jamison Gibson-Park sealed a late win for Leinster.

‘We’ve got to learn as a group, we’re still learning,’ said Cockerill.

‘We’ve got some young guys out there that are learning their game in a hard environment.

‘And we made some silly errors that against good sides cost you. And it did tonight. But I thought the effort, the physicality and the mentality of the team was outstanding.’

Cockerill’s side are at home against Zebre in the league next weekend before they begin their Challenge Cup adventure away to London Irish on October 14.

‘Look, we have Zebre next Friday and we have got to make amends for our poor performance against Treviso. That’s the next mind shift for this group of players,’ said Cockerill.

‘We have got two European games but then we got to Treviso again, which we have to go and win, and we have Ospreys at home.

‘So the next three league games are vital for us to be pushing into that fourth spot, putting pressure on the top three if we can.’