If Richard Cockerill is to be believed he has surprised himself in the course of his first season in charge of Edinburgh as he has begun the twin task of immediately improving their competitiveness in the marketplace while undergoing a ruthless inventory.

In doing so his particular area of expertise has been closely examined as a front-row crisis had to be negotiated, yet they have gone from strength to strength, morale seeming to grow in spite of some difficult situations with off-field misdemeanours and the release of senior players all adding to the challenge.

What looks to be emerging is a team that will go into next season with very different expectations, as Scotland captain John Barclay arrives to join an already formidable pack, while Matt Scott’s return will add additional potency to a back-line in which Mark Bennett is beginning to look like fulfilling the potential that saw him hailed as the most exciting talent in the game when he first emerged, Blair Kinghorn has come through to challenge for a Scotland spot and Dougie Fife has returned revitalised from the international sevens circuit.

In terms of the longed for ‘X-factor’, however, the coach and Scottish rugby as a whole are perhaps set to get the greatest reward from a decision he made even before he took the reins at Edinburgh when he recruited a raw youngster who boasts a surname that is both unmistakably South African, but has become closely associated with Scottish rugby, shared as it is with Glasgow Warriors’ record try scorer who returned to the club this month.

Cockerill was still working in France with Toulon last season when he spotted Duhan van der Merwe who had played just a handful of professional games for South Africa’s Bull and Montpelier where he had scored tries in each of his three senior games when Edinburgh made their move last May.

At 6’3”, close to 17 stones but boasting pace to match the power that is a given with such a physique the 22-year-old is a modern winger of the post-Lomu era and, as his coach observed, after a delayed start to his Edinburgh career as a result of having to undergo hip surgery in the summer, he is beginning to make his presence felt.

“The couple of tries he has scored in the last two weeks, I don’t think anyone else would have scored them,” said Cockerill. “To catch Dougie Fife up from where he was to get on the end of the pass against Munster and get around (Simon) Zebo was impressive and there’s not many other players who would score that try at the weekend (against Connacht). He’s a young player and he’s still learning the softer skills of the game, but physically and finishing wise he’s a good as anyone.”

Having arrived in Europe to both meteorological and competitive climates that were more obviously favourable in the south of France, his decision to head to Edinburgh saw the South Africa under-20 cap arrive ahead of December 2017 cut off point that will allow him to qualify to play for Scotland within three years rather than five, as is the requirement for those signed thereafter and whether or not that is a target, he was clearly looking to the longer term.

“When I signed I looked at Edinburgh and they were ninth or tenth on the log and I checked the previous years I just thought to myself I’ll come over and try and get some game time. I’m a young guy and I want to play professional rugby,” he explained.

As he pondered what was next at the end of his academy contract with one of the continent’s most powerful clubs, van der Merwe was persuaded that he was being given an opportunity to be a project player of one sort or another, involved as he could be in the transformation of the fortunes of an organisation that has spent years in the doldrums, but in terms of making comparisons he is reliant on hearsay.

“It’s difficult for me because I don’t know what’s gone on in the past. The boys say they are much more positive this season. They’ve got much more confidence,” he said.

In seeking to re-balance his squad Cockerill has off-loaded some established names, notably internationals John Hardie and San Hidalgo-Clyne, in order to give himself scope to recruit in the wider areas, but as van der Merwe noted, Edinburgh already have some exciting talent at their disposal.

“Blair [Kinghorn] is phenomenal. Dougie [Fife] as well. He’s played out of position the last two games and has been brilliant. You’ve got Damien Hoyland, Darcy Graham, Tom Brown is back. They are knocking on the door. The competition keeps you on your toes and that’s really a good thing,” he said.

And on a personal basis the move has been fully justified as Edinburgh continue to compete on two fronts heading into the last few weeks of the season.

“Being in this position is great. It’s why you play rugby. To compete against the big teams. I’m just enjoying at the moment,” said van der Merwe “We’ve worked so hard and I really think we deserve to be competing with the top dogs.”