EDINBURGH coach Richard Cockerill hoped his team had a restless night on the eight-hour bus journey back from Swansea, planning how to turn narrow defeat into victory in Ulster.
With two tough away trips to open their season, Edinburgh will need to hold on to the ball better against Ulster – 20 odd turnovers and a stream of penalties costing them what would have been a real statement win against the Ospreys as they went down 17-13.
Instead the George North-inspired Welsh side escaped with victory and Edinburgh had to be content with a losing bonus point – not that Cockerill was content.
“It is a tough start but we have to be better, it is as simple as that. We have eight hours on the bus so they have a little bit of time to self-reflect, haven’t they? I just hope they don’t sleep very well.
“There was enough in the game for us to win that, but we probably got what we deserved.
“We will build on this. The Ospreys are a good team and it was a game of tiny margins. George North is world class, Justin Tipuric, Alun Wyn Jones, Scott Williams are all quality with a huge amount of experience.
“We haven’t quite got that but we were still good enough, if we had played our game better. There is some consolation we come away with a point and there are a few things that if we do them a bit better, we can win those games. We will have a robust review on Monday and we go to Ulster and we have to win.”
A late try by full-back Blair Kinghorn put Edinburgh back in with a chance of winning, until a line-out drive on the Ospreys line went wrong.
Kinghorn is keen to build on his successful summer tour with Scotland. “We were in the game right up to the end and we had a chance to clinch it,” he said. “Last year we won six or seven games right at the death so we know we are an 80- minute team, the driving maul nearly went over but just wasn’t meant to be.
“I’m really excited about the start of the season, all the boys have put in a massive pre-season and raring to go now. I think we showed some good footy, some glimpses of what we are about but we turned the ball over too often.
“Away in Ulster is a tough place to go, but we did a job there last year so we will review this game then preview them and get stuck into it.”
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