FOR most of the recent times, the Sharks in Durban, South Africa, have had a team that has read like a Who's Who of Springbok rugby with the likes of the Du Plessis brothers, Jannie and Bismark, Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira or Willem Alberts in a formidable pack that would make most Test teams think twice.

For a period, at the heart of that unit stood Anton Bresler, a traditional South African enforcer lock - not necessarily the most glamorous position in the team but one that was, and still is, vital to e ensuring the rest of the team get the freedom to play the way they want. Thanks to his presence, they reached the Super Rugby final in 2012 and the Currie Cup final - which to the battle-hardened South African rugby community is every bit as important - in 2010 and again in 2012.

So who better for his current team-mates in Edinburgh to turn to for advice on the secret of coping with big finals? Because, make no mistake, however many Tests and crunch matches you play, there is nothing that matches the build-up and excitement of a one-off game with silverware at the end of it and none of the Scots in the current team have experienced anything like the pressures they will face in the European Challenge Cup final against Gloucester on Friday night.

"What every player needs to realise is that it is just another game," he said. "You don't want to over-think things, you don't want to get too nervous, you need to be mentally prepared. As a lock I need to know the line-out codes, do the things I do in every game.

"I have played in games when people got too nervous, lost the plot and end up having a bad game. The key to winning a big game is to stay patient and to keep grinding, grinding away, making small yards. Never give up basically. Either way if you are patient and keep grinding away the other team can break down.

"This is a big cup final in a competition involving - how many different countries? This is huge, especially for a club that is hungry for something like this. The last time was 2012 in the [Heineken Cup] semi-final but we haven't experienced anything like this as a team."

Throughout the season, Edinburgh have been maddeningly inconsistent, with good performances often followed by dreadful ones. Just look at what happened at the start of the month when they became the first team to win at the Scarlets for 15 months, then beat London Irish in the European Challenge Cup quarter final and then turned in one of their poorest games of the season against Munster.

"It was a lesson to be learned," Bresler admitted. "There was a lack of energy, we let ourselves down. During the game I thought I was doing really well but then I looked back at the game and thought 'what was I doing there?' I was nowhere. We were not up for it."

The one exception has been the European run. Five wins out of six in the pool stage, a win on the road against London Irish and one of their most impressive performances of the season against Newport-Gwent Dragons have got them to where they are now, and while the excitement is palpable, so is the sense of shock.

"We never set our sights on achieving the final," Bresler said. "It's not that we are underestimating ourselves, but we were just setting small goals - you can't just leap straight to the top. It is great being in this position and is a very good confidence booster and shows to us as a team we are capable of bigger things. It is a great feeling. You can see that from the way the boys are training. Also Solly [Alan Solomons, the head coach] and Stevie [Scott, the forwards coach] they are really looking forward to it.

"I have played against a few English sides in this competition but this is exciting because I don't know what to expect. You see their strengths and weaknesses on the tape, but you have never really had that combat against one of their players to physically feel what it is like to play against them."

Part of the challenge for him is to level his account in finals. Despite reaching three in that star-studded Sharks side, they won only one - victims of a ridiculous travel schedule when they faced the Chiefs in Hamilton, New Zealand in the 2012 Super Rugby final and the flopping in front of their own fans in the Currie Cup later the same season.

So his only win was the 31-10 victory over Western Province in 2010, and he is determined to relive that experience: "Relief, excitement, any good feeling you can think of. As a sportsman you want to reach the final and be the best," was how Bresler described it.