interview Edinnburgh coach confident professional rugby is on right track, writes Kevin Ferrie

As much through the manner in which it was achieved as the victory itself Saturday’s 22-11 win against a Benetton Treviso side that thrashed them at the end of last season, and had won its five previous matches this term, was impressive enough to offer hope that while a step up in class awaits at London Irish they can do something remarkable.

Few are better placed to assess their prospects than Tom Smith. The forwards coach boasts vast experience of this competition and the English game but, as the lone survivor of the senior management team that took them into last year’s competition, he draws most optimism from the changing domestic environment.

The new regime in charge of the Scottish Rugby Union has indicated that renewed emphasis is to be placed on the professional game. Edinburgh’s win on Saturday, allied to that of Glasgow Warriors, who recorded their fourth successive victory -- also in Italy at Aironi -- was the latest sign of growing belief in the SRU’s message among players and coaches.

Smith, a two-time British & Irish Lions tourist, is cautious in his public utterances and his vast experience has only conditioned him to be even moreso, but even he acknowledged the nascent beginnings of a new era.

“Things are changing and we want to challenge in this competition,” he said. “It’s important for us and it’s important for Scottish rugby to be involved in not just the pool stages but beyond. The eyes of the world are on this competition in the big games, so it’s a huge motivation. Whether we’re capable, only time will tell but it’s a huge opportunity, we’ve just got to grab it and perform.”

Asked specifically whether the changes at the top of the parent organisation were making a difference he said he hoped so, adding: “If we’re standing here in a year’s time we’ll be able to answer that question more effectively, but I’m optimistic.”

As someone whose first involvement with this competition was as a member of the Caledonia Reds squad in the late nineties before he spent time with Brive, then several seasons with Northampton Saints, Smith has been inspired by the Heineken Cup’s growth and its impact on the sport.

“It’s definitely different. There’s no doubt about it,” he said. “I remember the first few tournaments and it is great seeing it evolve into this, for it to become so meaningful in such a short period of time to all the players and supporters. You just look across the draw and there are various fixtures you can pick out that are dream games to go and watch, and support.

“It has just brought a new dimension to European rugby with all these great clubs dotted around Europe that only played one another on a friendly basis. It’s a clash of cultures with different styles of rugby all coming together. It has done wonders for bringing on European rugby and European international teams on the world stage.”

One exception, of course, proves that rule since unlike in England, France, Ireland, Italy and Wales, rugby’s popularity has shrunk in Scotland as successive Murrayfield managements have bungled their handling of the professional game.

Smith believes that has to change, saying: “Our supporters don’t want us to be sitting on the sidelines watching from a distance at the back end of the season.”

It will take time, however, for a different philosophy to be reflected in the way the professional teams are resourced, particularly in terms of personnel, so the Scots remain very much among the outsiders for this season’s Heineken Cup.

The challenge facing Edinburgh could hardly be tougher since they are up against a team that had an impressive outing of its own at the weekend when coming from behind to snatch a draw at Leicester Tigers.

Yet Smith believes that with an all international front-row of Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford and Geoff Cross available they must look closely at the pressure Leicester were able to apply in the scrums in that match.

“You can identify a potential weakness or sense an opportunity, but it’s one thing identifying and another taking it. We have players of the calibre to apply pressure, but they have to it when it matters,” he said.

In terms of achieving the prerequisite Smith craves, Edinburgh’s prospects have been enhanced by the emergence of young Harry Leonard, Saturday’s man of the match, as a play-making challenger to Phil Godman, the international stand-off who is gradually working his way back from serious knee injury.

Whether it is the teenager in the driving seat or the newly married man who enters his 30s next year, though, the message to be taken from last weekend is to keep it basic according to ex-prop Smith.

“It wasn’t pretty and that’s what winning away from home is,” he said. “You might occasionally win away from home by several scores and playing beautiful rugby, but [more often] it’s about getting the fundamentals right and sticking in when the chips are down. That’s what was pleasing for me.”