After making an all-departments overhaul of his team for the first time this season, Richard Cockerill admitted that his selection for the meeting with last year’s double winner Leinster was open to the interpretation that Edinburgh were sacrificing this match with the longer-term in mind.
The head coach insisted, however, that he believes his squad is now strong enough to remain competitive in spite of a total of nine changes to the XV that started the game against Connacht last week. That encounter produced their only win of the season so far, previous trips to the Ospreys and Ulster in what has been a particularly tough start to their Pro14 campaign, having produced narrow defeats.
Previous consistency of selections is what makes the scale of the change look telling, but in recognising why it might look as if Edinburgh were accepting that they have little chance of getting a result in Dublin whatever side they send to meet the strongest Leinster team to take the field this season and are consequently taking the chance to rest front-line players, Cockerill pointed to how today’s opponents manage their squad.
“You could interpret it that way, but it’s a bit like Leinster sending a completely different 23 to Cardiff. They came away with a result so that’s their prerogative,” he said.“We’ve got to go there and try and win and we’ll try and do that. How realistic that is we’ll have to see. Are we supposed to keep flogging the same 15 blokes for the next six weeks until the Autumn Tests come? We have to rotate the squad.”
In saying so he acknowledged that the European champions are operating at a different level.
“I would imagine we have a slightly different budget to Leinster so we have to work with the cards we are dealt... but for me that’s a good 23. Those players I’m comfortable with them going there and battling for the points,” he said.“Apart from Fraser McKenzie all that forward pack is capped and will be in consideration for the autumn internationals.It is a test of our strength in depth and of those players to step up. There are seven internationals in the forward pack and Pablo (Socino) and (Dougie) Fife are international backs. All these guys are playing would like to see themselves as competing for a regular starting spot.
“We are in a good position to rest guys and rotate them because we have a strong squad. There is a lot of change there and there are some what you may think as first choice players being left out for various reasons, be it rest or managing the squad and we have to go there and compete.wespeak so he is unavailable and we are looking after him as well. Look, that is a good squad. Schoeman and Murray McCallum are very good players, Crosbie, James Johnstone. That is a good squad. They are good players.
“I am expecting us to go there and throw everything at them and see where we get to.”
Leinster: J Larmour; F McFadden, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Lowe; J Sexton, L McGrath; C Healy, J Tracy, M Bent, D Toner, J Ryan, M Deegan, J van der Flier, J Conan. Replacements - S Cronin, P Dooley, T Furlong, M Kearney, D Leavy, J Gibson-Park, R Byrne, J Tomane
Edinburgh: D Fife; J Farndale, C Dean, JP Socino, D van der Merwe; J van der Walt, S Kennedy; A Dell, R Ford, S Berghan, F McKenzie (capt), B Toolis, L Hamilton, J Ritchie, M Bradbury. Replacements: D Cherry, P Schoeman, M McCallum, C Hunter-Hill, L Crosbie, N Fowles, S Hickey, J Johnstone
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