RICHARD Cockerill’s success as a coach is a matter of record. Leicester Tigers won the English Premiership with their former hooker at the helm in 2009, 2010 and 2013, were Heineken Cup runners-up in the first of those years, and have always finished in the top six of the league. Things at Welford Road have not gone so well this season, leading to the 46-year-old’s dismissal as director of rugby in January, but the esteem in which the ex-England international is held was evidenced by the speed with which Toulon signed him up as a coach on a short-term contract.

From that perspective, Edinburgh’s appointment of Cockerill as their head coach on a two-year contract from the start of next season makes a lot of sense. He has a track record of achievement, and, just as relevantly, a reputation as a man who demands high standards and refuses to let any player settle into a comfort zone. Leicester’s achievement has been built on an ethos of ruthlessly honest self-criticism, and Cockerill has been a part of that since he joined as a player back in 1992.

There is no doubt that Edinburgh would dearly love to have such a track record of success and a similar esprit de corps. The question is whether the man who was born in Rugby and has devoted much of his life to the sport can end the chronic malaise that has gripped the capital club for most of its existence.

“I am very much looking forward to a new challenge and the opportunity at Edinburgh Rugby ticked all the boxes,” Cockerill said yesterday in a statement put out by Scottish Rugby after his appointment was announced. “It’s a real rugby city, and the club has a lot of potential to grow on, and off, the pitch. I’m also relishing the chance of coaching in the Guinness PRO12, which is a new league for me, and working with a clearly talented group of players.”

Edinburgh is indeed “a real rugby city”, in the sense that the national team plays there, a number of the country’s leading clubs are based there, and there is a widespread interest in the sport rivalled only in the Borders. But it is not a place in which rugby dominates the way it does in Leicester, where, for all the recent success of the football club, the Tigers have long been the primary source of civic pride.

In other words, it is not a rugby hotbed to compare with Leicester or with other English towns such as Gloucester, Worcester or Bath. Nor is it a hothouse of talent. It contains a relatively small number of players, and the most naturally gifted have at times found it too easy to forge professional careers, often failing to realise their potential.

Cockerill has the right character to inculcate a very different mindset, but the problem begins long before players join Edinburgh, so making the right kind of signing will be vital. So, too, will be making a success of Myreside, presuming the move from Murrayfield to the Watsonians ground is continued beyond this season’s experiment. Being based at Myreside will help Edinburgh’s squad and supporters alike strengthen their identity, whereas a return to the national stadium would have the opposite effect.

The recruitment of Cockerill is at least a tacit recognition by the SRU that Edinburgh needs a change in its mindset, and there was no mistaking Mark Dodson’s pleasure at being able to announce his new signing. “I am very pleased to have secured Richard’s services given how highly sought after he was from leading clubs across Europe,” the chief executive said. “As a highly experienced, winning coach we targeted him and worked hard to ensure his talents could be secured for the benefit of Edinburgh Rugby.

“I believe his appointment clearly demonstrates our commitment to developing and maintaining success at our professional clubs in Scotland. The fact he has chosen Edinburgh Rugby as the next step in his career says everything about the shared vision we have for the club and his role in it. I’d like to thank Duncan Hodge for all his hard work with the club so far and look forward to him continuing to contribute to Edinburgh Rugby.”

Hodge, who has been acting head coach since Alan Solomons’ departure back in September, will revert to being backs coach, while Stevie Scott and Pete Wilkins, his current assistants, will retain their posts. Hodge has got the team playing a more attractive brand of rugby and taken them into the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup, but they are languishing in ninth position in the PRO12. How he, Scott and Wilkins gel with Cockerill will clearly be vital if the team is to do more than offer the occasional, sporadic glimpse of how good it could be.