Redemption on the menu as Mike Blair’s Edinburgh return from France hungry for more
After a triumphant skirmish in the south of France, Edinburgh head coach Mike Blair is insistent his team are not content with some fine wine, they are after far greater spoils of war in the Champions Cup.
Blair’s Edinburgh side recorded a momentous 34-21 victory over Castres Olympique to secure a place in the last 16 of the Heineken Champions Cup.
The Top 14 side held an advantage at halftime through tries from Josaia Raisuqe, Adrien Seguret and Wilfrid Hounkpatin. Edinburgh, reduced to 14 men after Blair Kinghorn was sent to the bin, had scored courtesy of Dave Cherry and Bill Mata, the former also being shown yellow minutes before the break.
Scores from Cammy Hutchison and Ben Vellacott ensured the bonus point would be coming back in hand luggage, before two Blair Kinghorn penalties wrapped up the win.
“To get through with a round to spare is excellent, especially when you consider we were in a group with two teams that were in the final of their domestic competitions last year,” said Blair.
His co-captain echoed his sentiments.
“We were deserving victors. Coming away to France and getting a five-point win in the Champions Cup takes a big effort,” said Grant Gilchrist, who returned to the starting XV after injury.
This win is the second on the bounce for Edinburgh, following their last minute over Zebre. It is a much-welcomed contrast to their disappointing run of matches at the tail end of 2022.
“We’ve been really disappointed and had a lot of tough conversations over the last month. Close games have gone against us because we’ve not been good enough,” said Gilchrist.
“In the four or five games previous to that we put ourselves in good positions by playing well in parts of games but weren’t tough enough to go on and win them. That was the difference on Sunday. We found ourselves in a tough battle but we looked calm and in control when it mattered,” he added.
One of those performances was against Saracens in the first round of the competition. For most, escaping the StoneX with a losing bonus point would be a fine achievement, but not for this Edinburgh side who find themselves hunting a home tie in the knockouts of the Cup.
Gilchrist and the rest of the Edinburgh team have an opportunity to do what few teams have done this season and beat the defending Premiership champions.
“We have to take belief from the troubles that we caused them and the things that we did well in that game. But we owe them one. We let that game slip away when we were in control.
“We did so much right to give us that opportunity and we’re going to have to do that again. If we put ourselves in that position again with a more mature performance in the back half of the game we can see it through and get the game we probably deserved in the first game,” the Scotland lock said.
“We are pleased we won but we want to stretch ourselves, we want to win at home,” emphasised the head coach.
The win is even more impressive given the brutal run of injuries the club has faced, including four changes after the team had been released.
“Sometimes you hold back on team announcements strategically and give the opposition a different picture but this was a genuine four changes in the last twenty hours and unavailability. It has been a tough period and will continue to be that because of injuries,” said Blair.
This win for Edinburgh coincided with Glasgow’s brushing aside of Perpignan, meaning Franco Smith’s men have won a magnificent seven in a row across all competitions. This was the first time in European rugby history that both Scottish teams have won in France on the same weekend.
“We should be positive about it because we are bloody quick to be negative about stuff. If there is something to be positive about then I think we should take that opportunity,” said Blair.
“We want our Scottish players playing in knockout ties because that’s where they improve their pressure game. That allows Gregor [Townsend] to see which players are ready to perform for Scotland in a pressure environment as well.
“I think it’s really important for Scottish rugby that we are getting into the knockout stages of competitions.”
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