Alan Solomons is the first to admit he can now be counted among the senior citizenry of the coaching fraternity, but he is also quick to point out that, three months short of his 65th birthday, he retains has all the passion and commitment to excellence that has carried him on his professional journey from Western Province to Edinburgh via the Springboks, Ulster, Northampton and Eastern Province.

Solomons has picked up a fair share of silverware in that time - the most notable lump being the Currie Cup trophy Western Province collected under his guidance in 1997 - but his appetite for more is strong, too. Hence his refusal to acknowledge that tonight's European Challenge Cup final meeting with Gloucester at the Stoop should be thought of as just an undercard for tomorrow's rather more obviously titanic Champions Cup clash between French heavyweights Toulon and Clermont Auvergne across the road at Twickenham.

Yesterday, as the Edinburgh players gathered their kit before setting off to the airport to catch a flight to London, Solomons was firm in his assertion that the Challenge Cup can be considered alongside anything else he has done in his long coaching life. "A final is a final, whether it is the Currie Cup or the Celtic Cup [which he won with Ulster]," said the South African "This is a final and it is right up there with all the other ones with which I have been privileged to be involved."

Yet while Solomons has clocked up the miles and medals down the years, few in his team have ever had reason to make room for personal trophy cabinets. In truth, their Gloucester opponents are in much the same boat, but the speed of Edinburgh's transformation from the shambles they were last season to becoming Scotland's first European finalists at the tail end of this campaign does provoke the concern that nerves could yet get the better of them when they take to the field tonight.

Eleven months ago, Glasgow gave the impression that they had gone into their shells a little at the 2013-14 PRO12 final in Dublin, when, after racking up the nine straight wins that got them into that position, they fell at the last hurdle, beaten 34-12 by Leinster. Solomons refused to speculate on whether nerves had got to the Warriors that day, but he did point out that composure and control were central to success.

Solomons said: "What's important is that it is another game. You have to be at the right pitch because if it's overdone, you expend a lot of nervous energy which is not going to help you. You want to be wound up but not overwound, if you know what I'm saying. That comes from how you prepare during the week, and you just wrap that up on match day.

"I don't know whether Glasgow did [freeze] or not last year. I think what happens on a big day, when the sides are pretty even, is that it's determined by the side that takes the opportunities that come their way, and by the side that doesn't give much away. Those are the two key factors. Get a chance you take it, and don't give anything away.

"I know the 1872 Cup [which Edinburgh won this season] doesn't have the same context as European rugby but that was a massive game. We handled that game well and have played some very big games where there's been a lot of pressure on the side and the team has risen on each occasion to those challenge. The European quarter and semi-finals were big games, the 1872 Cup was a big game. This is a bigger game, but it's the same thing."

There is also, of course, the game within a game, the keenly awaited scrum-half battle between Edinburgh's Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and Gloucester's Greig Laidlaw. It is a classic master-vs-pupil contest, and the 21-year-old Hidalgo-Clyne knows very well that the Scotland number nine World Cup jersey is also at stake.

However, both he and Solomons are also clear what comes first. In the quarter-final win against London Irish, Hidalgo-Clyne seemed at times to be sidetracked by his personal contest with Scott Steele, his opposite number and former schoolfriend. According to Solomons, there will be no repeat of that pattern tonight.

"That was quite a good learning curve for Sammy," said Solomons. "Even when you play against players you know well, it's always about playing your game in the context of the team. I think he has taken that on board.

"He spoke to me about it. He is an intelligent boy and he is aware of these things. We had a good discussion and it came to the fore when we spoke about this particular match, about being focused on his own game in the team."

Solomons also knows that Laidlaw will have been furnishing his Kingsholm team-mates with the inside track on a number of Edinburgh players. "There's nothing much we can do about that," he shrugged. "Gloucester is his team now and whatever advantage he can give them, in whatever way, he will be looking to do that. He is a really competitive man."

While Gloucester will have to do without recent video evidence of Cornell du PReez, who has missed most of the season since suffering a horrifying ankle injury last October, Laidlaw will certainly make sure they are aware of the explosive force the former South Africa under 20 player brings to the Scottish side. After two brief appearances off the bench, Du Preez will make his first start in six months tonight, and Edinburgh captain Mike Coman, who has been moved from No.8 to blindside to accommodate his return, is confident he can make an impact.

"He's got a lot of X-factor," said Coman. "He's got timing and the skill set of a back. It wll be tough on Cornell's lungs and he's going to have to dig deep, but he's the sort of guy for whom the bigger the game the more likely he is to perform. It's exciting to have him back. He's a guy who can spark things."