AFTER two Challenge Cup games against Stade Francais in which Edinburgh failed to turn up until after half-time, it is no surprise that one of their major themes in training this week is the need to play at a consistency high standard for 80 minutes.

What was a surprise, of course, was how closely the first half in the second match in Paris resembled the first half in the initial game at Murrayfield. Duncan Hodge, the head coach, had vented his frustration after that first match, and the players clearly shared his mood. So for them to go out and do the same thing again five days later - and this time, unlike in the first match, fail to make a comeback good enough to win the game - verged on the inexplicable.

That inconsistency is a long-term problem with Edinburgh, as it is for many sides, and if there were a ready-made solution it would have been found, patented and put on the market a long time ago. But at least, as they look ahead to the 1872 Cup match against Glasgow Warriors on Boxing Day, Hodge and his assistants can take some consolation from his team’s form in recent games against their oldest rivals: no matter how they have been playing in the build-up to the derby, Edinburgh appear able to raise their game for it.

Last season they won both legs - the first at home, the second officially away, although also held at Murrayfield after Scotstoun became waterlogged - against a Warriors team who were the reigning PRO12 champions and on their way back to the play-offs. Two seasons ago they lost in Glasgow but then won the return match by a big enough margin to take the trophy on aggregate.

So whatever their deficiencies on other days, when it comes to getting ready for welcoming Glasgow to Murrayfield at the start of next week, Edinburgh appear able to prepare themselves properly. In part that may be because, while each leg only counts for the usual league points, it is also a highlight of the season, in which personal as well as collective rivalries come into play.

“Two years on the bounce we’ve won it, and we’re looking to go three,” centre Chris Dean said yesterday. “We can really get up for these big games, as we’ve already proved this season, and string a good game together.

“We let Stade get ahead too early in our two previous games, and that’s something we’ve been focusing on in training. We need to improve for this game, but getting up for it will not be difficult.”

Edinburgh have certainly got up for some big games - the earlier Challenge Cup win against Harlequins was a particularly good example of that - but Stade Francais hardly count as minor opposition. In other words, the conundrum of inconsistency continues.

The best way to address it, according to Dean’s fellow-back Damien Hoyland, is to try to ensure that training is at as high a standard as possible. That in itself is no easy matter, and even if you do train consistently well there is no guarantee that your form transfers into matches, but the winger is confident that steady progress can be made.

“Training has been going really well, and I feel I’m improving through training,” Hoyland said. “Everyone throughout the team feels we’re improving each week, and have been for the last couple of months. If we keep training like that and keep working on the things we need to work on during the games, then we’ll start picking up.

“We are seeing the improvement in every training session, and we’re seeing in bits and bobs during the games the things we're working on in training. I always feel the way you train is the way you play, but there are times when the training was short and sharp but when it came to the game it was hard to pinpoint what had gone wrong.

“It’s fine margins at this level and all you can do is train at your best and try to improve. Over a longer period of time, obviously the better you train the better you will play.”

In addition to the local rivalry, another obvious incentive when Edinburgh play Glasgow, especially at this time of year, is the chance to play against your direct rivals for a place in the Scotland squad. Dean, who won six under-20 caps, has yet to graduate to the senior international set-up, but Hoyland has two full caps to his name and admitted to having the Six Nations on his mind.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn't,” he added. “Playing for Scotland has always been a massive goal of mine - not just to play, but to play consistently. To do that, you have to play well for your club, so right now that’s the main thing.”