MIKE Blair has promised a change of coaching style at Edinburgh, with a greater emphasis on encouraging players to express themselves within a generally more expansive game-plan, but he insists that this will not be pursued to the detriment of the rugged edge instilled in the capital side by Richard Cockerill, his predecessor as head coach. 

Blair acknowledges that there is a sense of stepping into the unknown given that he has never been in absolute charge of a team before, but he is determined that standards will not slip just because he is a less confrontational character than the man he has replaced. 

Edinburgh were seen as a talented squad with a soft underbelly before Cockerill’s arrival in the Scottish capital in the summer of 2017, and the combative Englishman wasted no time in shaking that out of the players, however he failed to add the extra layers of sophistication the side needed to really kick-on last season, and there was a definite sense that the players were stagnating under his dictatorial style. 

Blair was reluctant to discuss the circumstances around Cockerill’s sudden departure by “mutual consent” last month, which led to his own sudden elevation from an assistant role with Scotland to the lead role with his hometown club, but he did stress that he has been impressed by the work ethic within the squad he has inherited. 

“Cockers certainly had an immediate positive impact on that side of things, from a culture point of view,” said the 40-year-old, who spent 10 seasons playing for the club between 2002 and 2012. “It’s actually something that I’ve been really impressed with since I came in, about that attention to detail and those things that some might think are not important, such as being well turned out, getting to meetings on time, being really attentive in meetings, and asking questions. That’s something I’ll bring through as well.  

“We aren’t similar individuals in terms of the way that we’ll do things, but I still have high standards, I still don’t accept mediocrity,” he added. “And with the type of people that we’ve got in the squad, and the standing that they’ve already got in that side of things, I don’t see things slipping. I don’t know whether I have that Cockers side of me that keeps things going from that point of view, but I think we’ll be able to create a really good balance.” 

Blair added that he was not mandated to change Edinburgh’s style when given the job but pointed out that it is inevitable that there will be a shift towards a more expansive approach.  

“I think there is probably an understanding of the type of coach I am and how that will naturally happen a little bit more with my beliefs and philosophies, but it wasn’t said that ‘if you want this job then you are going to have to coach them like this’ or ‘you are going to have to produce this’,” he explained. 

“I think we’ve got a group here who have a great rugby IQ, who understand the game, who understand what we need. So, they’ll definitely have a big say in what we do leading into games but also in the games themselves. 

“It makes sense to play a bit more because we’ve got a fast track,” he continued. “But as I’ve said to the players already, the club has built some really good foundations over the last three or four years through that pressure game [championed by Cockerill], and that’s not going to be thrown out the window now, because this has arguably been Edinburgh’s most consistent performing period over the last 20 years or so.  

“Yes, there will be a little bit of change, but we can’t forget about what has worked well in the past as well. We need balance to our game.”  

The departure of long-serving attack coach Duncan Hodge earlier this month means that Blair is now down to two assistants, with Calum MacRae overseeing defence and Stevie Lawrie in charge of the forwards. That is not enough, according to the new man in charge, so he is actively looking to bring in fresh blood on the management side. 

“Stevie and Kitty [MacRae] have done a really good job – they’ve had a really busy summer working with the guys and they’ve put together a really good pre-season – but you can’t do it with three people at this level in this day and age,” he said. “With the amount of detail and feedback we want to give the players, we’d be up for 24 hours a day. 

“So, there will be one, possibly two, coaches coming in. But as you can imagine, at this time of the year it takes a little bit of doing because it’s about who’s available. And the dynamic – what type of personality we bring in – is important. Kitty, myself and Stevie are different, and we need that because different players react to different stimulus, so we need to make sure we’re touching all the different bases with our different coaching personnel.”