Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley has admitted jobs will be on the line over the next few weeks as the capital side try to reverse their dismal form and clock up a run of wins to lift their season.
Bradley's team take on Saracens at Vicarage Road in their final Heineken Cup pool match this afternoon, still without a win and needing to put 12 points on the scoreboard to avoid the humiliation of being the lowest scorers in the competition's history.
"There are decisions on contracts all over the place, my own included," Bradley said. "People will be fighting for that. It's an important time of the year for us."
Bradley suggested the loss of players such as Mike Blair and Chris Paterson had counted against his side, but stressed others need to take on the mantles of responsibility those individuals previously wore. He said: "Mike Blair can virtually win a game on his own. Chris Paterson was Mr Consistent. When you don't have them, other players have to step up to the plate."
Victory today would see Saracens finish as Pool 1 winners. Munster, currently second, will almost certainly require a bonus-point win against Racing Metro to progress as one of the best runners-up.
Edinburgh's prospects of a consolation win suffered a blow yesterday when it was confirmed that Dave Denton, who suffered a knee injury in last weekend's match against Munster, had been forced to pull out of today's fixture. He will be assessed by the Scotland team doctors at tomorrow's international training session in Glasgow.
In other matches yesterday, Johnnie Beattie's Montpellier claimed a place in the quarter-finals as one of the best runners-up with a 23-3 victory over Pool 6 winners Toulon. Reigning champions Leinster also strengthened their prospects of a place in the last eight by claiming a bonus point in their 29-10 away victory over Exeter Chiefs.
Centres Gordon D'arcy and Brian O'Driscoll, full-back Rob Kearney and No 8 Jamie Heaslip got the vital tries for Leinster against a spirited Chiefs outfit who refused to lie down. However, the Dublin side will have to wait on the results of today's matches between Munster and Racing Metro in Limerick and Leicester and Toulouse at Welford Road, both of which could have a bearing on their qualification chances.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article