These are exciting times.
The 1872 Cup has been and gone and we are inching ever closer to making history by getting to the quarter finals of the Heineken cup for only the second time in over a decade, while the RBS 6 Nations looms large around the corner. Anticipation is growing around Scottish rugby during these exciting times.
Going down to Paris to play a star-studded Racing Metro was a daunting prospect to say the least - our season hung in the balance.
It’s not often any Scottish team travels to France and returns home victorious, so needless to say the feeling in the changing room after the match was electric, we all knew how important that win was to the club and to our season. Making the feeling even better for me was the memory of galloping in from 40-odd metres away (39 metres longer than any other try I’ve scored) for my second score for Edinburgh Rugby.
Anyone who saw the game I’m sure will agree that my facial expressions reflect shock and relief rather than the expected coolness of a seasoned try-scorer - but we all have to start somewhere and hopefully it’s the first of many.
One of the other highlights of the past few weeks has got to be the visit from Sky Sports in the build-up to that decisive game. Tom Brown and I took them round our freshly tidied flat which must have been a new experience for the crew and for anyone who saw the clips. After a short chat with us about the upcoming game the flat tour commenced – Tom ran them through the Edinburgh Rugby calendar while I took them through the fridge and my favourite imported selection of dried meat and tried to explain my fishless fish tank. All in all a fun afternoon and I hope it made for good viewing.
With all this going on, as well as our standard training regime, it’s been interesting trying to keep my Open University going and, after a few suggestive emails and a more forceful letter, I’ve decided it’s probably time to start substituting some of the Xbox hours for study time, much to my dad’s delight.
Now to the upcoming weeks: Once again this weekend is a massive one for the club. No question it’ll be the most important game I’ve played for Edinburgh. The hype has been steadily growing over the past few days in and away from Murrayfield Stadium.
It’s going to be a serious test of our character and resilience as a team. London Irish are a strong outfit and we will have to be at the top of our game to come away from the game on Sunday night with a quarter-final in our not-too-distant future. The feeling around the team though is a good one. We know what we need to do to beat them, now we just need to get out there and do it and try not to get distracted by the hype off the pitch.
I would be lying if I said I have not been thinking about the possibility of an RBS 6 Nations debut for Scotland in the next month or so, the opportunity to play against England at Murrayfield is one that most people can only dream of. But, as I have said before, that is not where my focus is right now. All my attention is on this Sunday’s game and helping Edinburgh get through to that ever-elusive place in the top eight.
I hope as many of you as possible can make it and lend your support to our challenge!
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