CHALLENGED on why he has chosen to select 5’9” youngster Darcy Graham against Toulon in direct opposition to the man who has been described as “the Fijian Beast”, “the bus” and “the human bulldozer”, Edinburgh’s head coach had a similarly colourful response to offer yesterday.

“Darcy has played well, he’s very physical and he is playing against one of the most physical wingers in the world in [Josua] Tuisova. He is some athlete, but these are the challenges we’ve got to put our players in front of. I’m looking forward to seeing how Darcy goes and so is Darcy. I tell you what, I am going to back my Scottish streak of p*** against Tuisova because he’s my player,” Richard Cockerill said.

It must be stressed that his semi-humorous, albeit slightly irked tone indicated that he was referencing the questioner’s description of the Scottish winger as “a long drink of water” compared with the man he was up against.

In some ways, though, it also speaks to the dilemma Cockerill alluded to earlier in the week when saying that as a self-confessed “arrogant Englishman” he was determined to change the Scottish mindset and he admitted yesterday that in seeking to do so he cannot try to turn players into something they are not.

“I think they have to be what they are,” he said. “I just want them to believe in their talent. Away from the field they can be good human beings, I’ve got no problem with that, but when we get on the field I want us to believe in our ability and I want us to really show it.”

Furthermore, in individual man-power terms, that head-to-head could be seen as representing the challenge facing Edinburgh as a whole, but the home side at Murrayfield today is also packed with internationalists who can, if they perform as a team, expose opponents who have not been doing so.

“If Toulon get it right they should win but if we get it right – get in amongst them and don’t let them settle – then we will give ourselves every chance of winning – and that’s the pressure we are putting on the team,” said Cockerill.

“We have got to perform tomorrow. There are no excuses. We know what it feels like to play these teams, so we’ve got to deliver, and that’s part of our development. I want us to knock over one of these big teams because we should have/could have done it last week and we’ve got another chance this week.”

Last weekend’s narrow defeat against a similarly impressive Montpellier side, allied to the victory achieved in Toulon by Newcastle Falcons, have shown the way.

“Like I said to the players at half-time and full-time, I expect more from them physically and mentally. We’ve done it in Montpellier up to a point and now we have the opportunity to do it again against a good side,” said Cockerill. “They’ve not been on good form, but when you look at that team there’s no way they can play as badly as they have forever. I just hope it doesn’t click for them tomorrow.

“If they had beaten Newcastle last weekend with a bonus point then maybe their attitude would be different. They should never lose to that Newcastle team at home. They’ve got everything to prove. They’ve made changes in the team, with Marcel van der Merwe been left out completely. I’m assuming [Guilhem] Guirado must be injured because along with [Edinburgh captain Stuart] McInally he’s one of the best hookers in the world.”