IF the Chinese philosophers are right and we live in a yin and yang universe where every piece of good fortune is balanced by its opposite, then somewhere on the planet there must be a rugby team bursting with vitality and good health.

They would be the yang, to Edinburgh's yin.

With anywhere from a third to half the squad out of action in recent weeks with an eclectic mixture of tears, rips, breaks, cracks, dislocations, spasms and other ailments afflicting the squad, it throws extra pressure on the hardy few who remain fit. In particular on to the leaders within that group who have to find the inspiration to guide them out of the mire.

Which is why his first taste of captaining Edinburgh has not exactly been what Mike Coman expected. He knew he was taking over a team who had forgotten how to win, but he could never have imagined that somewhere was somebody sticking pins into a team's worth of voodoo dolls, finding a variety of ways to crock key players.

"I've never experienced anything like it, I've never seen anything come close," he said. "After the Leinster game there was 22 or something like that injured, I couldn't believe it. The [November] break gave guys like myself a chance to regroup and come back, but since then we've just been constantly picking up niggles. We can't use that as an excuse - we've got enough strength in depth to cope."

They don't have much choice. The season is not going to be suspended while all the broken arms, legs, faces and other injuries get healed. They have to get on with it and today's game against London Welsh is a chance to step away from the weekly grind of the league and get back into a competition where they have been doing well and have a lead to protect.

The pressure, though, is on players such as Coman to guide an inexperienced side through the perils and pitfalls of a game they ought to win but could be dangerously unpredictable. As far as the forwards go, he has to do it on his own, without the likes of Ross Ford and Grant Gilchrist to lend a hand.

"Without doubt there is a lot of pressure," he said. "It has been disappointing because we have talked a lot about trying to be consistent, but each time it has been two steps forward and one step back. It hasn't helped that I was not a constant figure early on; it was a slow start but by the looks of things that is behind me now.

"Hopefully I can be with the team throughout every week at training and we can start talking about the things we want to drive forward. There is pressure on me to iron out these issues to make us a better club, and more consistent."

The league struggles are easy to see - Edinburgh have won just three times this season. By contrast, it is only the third round of the European Challenge Cup and a win this afternoon against London Welsh, who are in an even worse plight without a win in any competition, would be their third victory and would position them handsomely for a spot in the quarter- finals in April.

Though Coman is leading a team without 13 frontline players plus a few from the fringes, he is confident.

"Every game at this stage is massively important to us. But let's not beat around the bush, this game is massively important to our hopes in this competition. We need to get a good result," he said.