COACHING Edinburgh Rugby this season must feel like playing one of those old whack-a-mole arcade games. You hit one problem on the head and think you’ve solved it - the lack of a cutting edge in attack, let’s say - but then immediately another one pops up - for example, defensive frailties where once there was solidity. You get rid of one bad habit, such as the tendency, noted by some players, to lose concentration at spells during the second half; but then see it replaced by another - the desperately poor start to the game that was evident in both of the team’s Challenge Cup games against Stade Francais.

There is no denying that Duncan Hodge has made some progress since taking over as acting head coach, above all when it comes to allowing the players to take responsibility for calling plays. But that progress has been partial. What Edinburgh need in the coming weeks, starting this afternoon when they welcome Glasgow to Murrayfield for the season’s first 1872 Cup match, is to prove that they are beginning to sustain it.

Given that position, not to mention the fact they currently lie 10th in a 12-team league, Edinburgh may just be that little more desperate for a result this afternoon for the Warriors. Add in the fact that Hodge remains a temporary appointee, where his opposite number Gregor Townsend will move to take charge of Scotland next summer, and the pressure on the home team increases again.

And yet, as Hodge pointed out, this is rarely a fixture in which one team looks more at ease than the other from kick-off. All the players are desperate to win, and in that sense the pressure is the same.

“I think both of us are,” Hodge said when asked who was under the most pressure going into today’s game. “It’s always the same with a derby game - it’s a big

game and everyone wants to win. Everyone knows the level of pressure goes up a bit more and there’s more hype and intensity, which is all good.

“There’s the competition element, there’s the team thing, and within that there are lots of individual battles. The players know each other incredibly well - a lot of them have spent a lot of time together in Scotland camps. It all adds up.

“Look, it’s not another league game. In terms of the hype, you can see there’s an extra bit of edge and an extra bit of agitation, because people want to do

well. It’s about controlling those emotions as well as bringing them out; it’s about getting a balance.”

In recent games against Glasgow, knowing they lack the firepower to win a very open game, Edinburgh have kept it tight. The emphasis has been on closing their opponents down and steadily getting on top. This time, however, Hodge has more options at his disposal. The confidence he has instilled has encouraged backs such as Blair Kinghorn and Damien Hoyland to be more enterprising than they were once allowed to be, while at the same time the ability to play a tight game remains, provided the defence maintains its concentration.

“That’s a good thing,” Hodge continued. “At times this year we’ve attacked well, and other times we’ve been strong up front, so it’s a question of meshing those two thing together. If we can get a platform up front I’m sure we can squeeze them.

“It’s always the same with a derby game: it’s a big game and everyone wants to win. Everyone knows the level of pressure goes up a bit more and there’s more hype and intensity, which is all good.

“Tactically against Glasgow we know how they defend and how they play, and that makes certain aspects of the game more difficult as well. There are going to be tactical shifts in every game, but I’d be foolish if I were to tell you how we’re going to play. You’ve got to take into account how they defend and what they’re about.”

What Glasgow are about, above all, is launching waves of attacks through stand-off Finn Russell. Jason Tovey has been in the Edinburgh No 10 jersey in recent weeks, but for this match Hodge has opted for Duncan Weir to play opposite his former Glasgow team-mate. Having been allowed to leave the Warriors, Weir may be thought to have a point to prove, but Hodge is sure his playmaker will concentrate on exactly that - calling the shots for his team as they look to extend their winning run over their rivals to four games.

“For most people he doesn’t have a point to prove,” the coach added. “But he’s not played much rugby this year and just wants to get fit and play, and be part of the team – that’s the most important thing, and I know because I’ve been there myself. I don’t think people are out to prove individual things in a game like this.

“Knowing Duncy, he’ll relish it. He’s done stuff at Test level, and he’s a proven player, so in a big game like this hopefully that’ll come to the fore.”