ANYONE tempted to write Edinburgh off as no-hopers for the foreseeable future - and more than a few of us must have been in that position recently - would do well to listen to Nasi Manu. The 28-year-old New Zealander knows what it is like to play for an apparently lost cause - and to turn it into a winning team.
When he first played for the Highlanders in Super Rugby back in 2010, as Manu recalled this week, his team were the whipping boys. When he last played for them - in the 2015 final of the same competition - they won the trophy.
The back-row forward, now recovered from a rib cartilage injury and in the running to play from the start in his team’s Challenge Cup match against Timisoara Saracens tomorrow, knows from personal experience that such improvement has to come gradually. But he is convinced that Edinburgh are on the right track, and can see similarities between the factors which helped his old team improve and those that are now in place with Edinburgh.
“It didn’t happen overnight,” Manu said of the Highlanders’ success. “I was there for six years and we went from being the underdogs with no-one hearing from us.
“We had a good start a couple of times before becoming contenders and we finished last. I think [one time] we were 0-10 - zero wins, 10 losses - and I guess for me my role there gave me a bit more responsibility and we got that balance right.
“In each team that balance is going to be different, and I think at Edinburgh we’re still trying to find that balance of culture and the game. The game has changed a lot and we have to find our identity and our game - the game that is best for this group of men.”
Manu believes that part of finding the right balance involves determining how much responsibility the players take, and how much is down to the coach. Duncan Hodge may still be settling in after taking over as head coach from Alan Solomons, but Manu is sure he will benefit from the assistance of the senior players, especially joint captains Grant Gilchrist and Stuart McInally.
“The year that the Highlanders won it we had a good balance between player-driven and coach-driven,” he added. “Coaches are there to coach: they are the MCs of the whole night. I think at the Highlanders we got that right.
“With this team this year Gilcho and Rambo [McInally] are doing some good stuff that I haven’t seen last year and really trying to make things better. We’re still tweaking things, but we are heading in the right direction.”
Timisoara may not be one of the best-known names in world rugby, but for Manu such trips as the one he and the squad are making today are the reason he moved from New Zealand in the first place. “For me it’s really exciting. That’s the reason why I came here - to experience European competition and travelling the world. Back in New Zealand everything is so small and you get to go to Australia and South Africa, but I really wanted to travel around the UK and Europe, so it’s a good chance.”
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