Tight budget at Edinburgh led to Scott’s exit, says boss

RICHARD COCKERILL has revealed that he did all he possibly could to keep hold of Matt Scott — and that the player himself wanted to stay at Edinburgh.

But, with budget constraints dictating that Cockerill had to cut his cloth accordingly, he was forced to spread the available finance around other areas of the squad.

Scott has agreed a deal to join Leicester Tigers as of next season, having returned to full fitness and top form this campaign.

The centre was unfortunate not to see any action for Scotland during the Six Nations but the 29-year-old will no doubt return to the national set-up if he excels at Welford Road.

And Cockerill believes there is no reason why that shouldn’t be the case, explaining that Scott leaves with the best wishes of all at Edinburgh.

‘We have a budget to stick to,’ said Cockerill, a Leicester stalwart who spent over two decades at the club as a player and a coach. ‘Matt wanted to stay and I wanted him to stay.

‘But, with all the other signings and all the other bits and pieces in terms of the balance of the squad, it just wasn’t possible.

‘Matt’s a very good player. He was unlucky not to play for Scotland this year (in the Six Nations) because he was in good form.

‘The emergence of George Taylor and Chris Dean has been good for us. They’ll both improve with the more games they play.

‘Tough decisions had to be made. But Matt’s a good player and a good man. I’m disappointed that he’s leaving, but I’m pleased he’s going to a good club.

‘I was talking to Geordan Murphy (Leicester head coach) about squads. He was asking about midfield and I recommended that Leicester had a look at Matt.

‘He’s a good player and you want to help guys move on. That said, in different circumstances, he would still be an Edinburgh player.

‘But that just wasn’t to be. That’s professional sport, that’s just how it works sometimes. I take full responsibility for that because that’s my job.’

Cockerill acknowledged that the current shutdown means that the building of Edinburgh’s new stadium will inevitably have to be put on hold.

It had been intended that the new 7,800-seater stadium would be completed later this year, but that now looks unlikely.

Cockerill is confident, though, that it will be finished once the country gets up and running again and construction can resume.

‘Of course it’s frustrating,’ he said. ‘But, under the current circumstances, it’s thoroughly understandable. The stadium will get built. We will be using it at some point for next season.

‘We’re just going to have to get on with it. In the first instance, we’ll be back in the main stadium at BT Murrayfield.’