IF something as parochial as the 1872 Cup can energise Edinburgh's rugby revival, then imagine what European success might do, even if it is in the second tier, second rate, Challenge Cup.
As Greig Tonks, the fly half, points out, while their hopes of reaching the senior Champions Cup next season have taken a sudden leap, the lesser event is their immediate challenge and they can do themselves a lot of favours by doing well in it.
"We want to be in the Champions Cup, we want to be in the top six in the PRO12, but we aren't so we have to make the best of this situation," he said. "We aim to show that we deserve to be there [the Champions Cup] and have to do as well as we can in this competition to do that; we are in the Challenge Cup and have to make the best of it, give it a go."
That starts next Saturday when they travel to Lyon for the return match from the one where Murrayfield ended out looking like a scene from Casualty, with medics treating a broken arm, a broken jaw, a broken cheek bone, concussion and two sets of torn knee ligaments in a match that cost the team six leading players for varying lengths of time.
It also spoke volumes for the team that they went on to win, despite the chaos, and they head to France with a 100 percent record in the tournament knowing a win would put them on the verge of reaching the quarter finals, a bonus point win would almost certainly ensure a home draw in the knockout stage with the home tie against Bordeaux still to come.
"We did not have the best run last year in Europe, so it is nice to have a slightly different focus and to be doing well," added Tonks. "It does give confidence and momentum since have had a good couple of wins. It is a slightly different atmosphere. In the Guinness PRO12 week-in, week-out you are playing against teams you know but when you come up against Bordeaux, Lyon, London Welsh, these are teams you would never have come across otherwise. It is different for the fans and players; new places to travel-to and see.
"Every game is important, especially since we have won a few and have a chance of making it somewhere, you want to keep that momentum and continuity to keep winning those games. It certainly makes life easier if you get into top place and get a home quarter final, that is important since by then it is the top teams that are left and it would be harder if we end out going away to somewhere in France or England."
They don't have to think back far for the scare that should guard against complacency, with the home tie against London Welsh a stark reminder of what can happen - though it was also the breakthrough game on a personal level for Tonks who had been playing full back after returning from an early season injury, but helped turn the match when he came on at fly half and has been kept there ever since.
"For me it was an important turning point. I came on in the second half, so did a couple of other boys. We got a bit of momentum and turned the game round," he recalled. "That helped selection from there on in, I have enjoyed playing 10 and we have done well, with good wins the last two weekends following those wins against London Welsh."
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