Edinburgh target domestic title with first sight of powered-up XV

Senior Sports Writer

Saturday 1 September 2012

By selecting his strongest possible starting XV for tonight's RaboDirect Pro12 meeting with Munster at Murrayfield, Michael Bradley, Edinburgh's head coach, seems to have realigned the club's priorities.

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Kevin Ferrie

Their dismal effort in the domestic competition last season – they finished second bottom of the Pro12 table – stood in stark contrast to their breakthrough European run, as they became the first Scottish team to reach a Heineken Cup semi-final.

So which of those is the real Edinburgh? Pre-season results were less than encouraging, with a heavy defeat away to Newcastle Falcons, from England's second-tier Championship, followed by an eight-try drubbing in front of their own supporters by Northampton Saints.However, Bradley had always planned to bring back the nucleus of the team that performed so well in European rugby's biggest club and provincial tournament, even if he noted that one third of his starting XV is made up of new recruits for the visit of his own home province."Obviously you don't want to concede 50 points no matter what side you put out, but I think, in the overall scheme of things, in pre-season you look at a number of performance elements out of it, then you go into your actual competition phase and, in one sentence, this was the plan," he said. "From early in pre-season we were looking to bring back the internationals at this point. It [tonight's starting XV] is a strong selection which is the way our thought process was going from the start of pre-season; it's a matter of managing that resource."I remember that, this time last year, we played Cardiff and conceded five tries, which wasn't a good way to start, whereas, in our third game here, we played Munster and put in a decent enough performance to win the game. It's a different scenario this year. "We're looking to do a lot better in the Rabo and part of that equation is to do well at home. We have a strong side out and Munster have a strong side out, so it should be a cracking game. There's no guarantee that we'll win it, but it's a great challenge for us and we're really looking forward to it."Bradley acknowledged that all aspects of Edinburgh's operation will be under greater scrutiny this year and there is no mistaking the extent to which the team has been strengthened. "People will expect more of Edinbugh Rugby this season – and rightly so – which puts added pressure on us and more of a focus for the opposition when they come here just that wee bit sharper – it's a good place for us to be," he said.The players certainly seem to be expecting more of themselves, as outlined by Nick De Luca, one of the returning internationalists. "We expect to do well again in the Heineken and more importantly in the Rabo," he said. "It has been well documented how badly we did last year and, as players and part of this club, that is an embarrassment. We are looking to set things straight from the word go, which is against Munster. It is a great game to be starting with, it is not an easy one, obviously, but we are at home and with the Heineken coming up, we can really send a message."With Matt Scott not yet ready to return, De Luca has the first chance to establish a new midfield partnership with the one-time All Black Ben Atiga. "Ben is a quality player and has been brought in to make a difference, either to push Matt Scott and take his place or my place," said De Luca. "There is a lot of competition in the centre; it will push everyone on to better performances. The changes [signings] show the commitment to Edinburgh Rugby from the SRU and the coaching staff to say that we are not happy with where we are at, we are still striving for better things."As a player base, that is definitely what we want. If we can repay the faith they put in us with the results then we can come away with [a place in the] play-offs as a minimum this year. As players, we want [to contest the] play-offs. We want [to reach the] knockout [phase] in both competitions. That's our goal and I think we have got the squad that can do that, so it is on our heads."A good start is going to be huge. The last couple of years, we have started poorly and have been playing catch up. In the Heineken, we got a couple of wins and were suddenly out in front and it makes a huge difference. For Edinburgh as a squad it is vital that we get that home win, that first win and put ourselves in the mix from day one or day two of the competition."

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Edinburgh target domestic title with first sight of powered-up XV

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