EDINBURGH forward Magnus Bradbury is confident his team will hit the ground running on Saturday when they begin their Champions Cup campaign at home to Bordeaux.
Head coach Richard Cockerill should have most, if not all, of his Scotland players back for the match at BT Murrayfield, and Bradbury believes the return of those players will have a massive effect on morale.
“With the Scotland boys reintegrating as well, I think it’s going to be a hugely exciting week,” he said. “And whatever that 23 looks like, we’re going to be good to go.
“Our track record against French teams over the past couple of years shows we can match them and beat them, regardless of whether it’s home or away. I expect us to front up like we always do against French teams.
“La Rochelle are a huge team and a very successful team, but we’ve shown we can beat these teams even across there with Toulon, and running Montpellier pretty close as well. So we’re going to prepare as we do for every game, look at their weaknesses and their strengths, and go there and fire some shots and see what happens.”
Without those international players, and with a lengthy injury list too, Edinburgh have been in indifferent form in the PRO14, winning just two of their seven games. But Bradbury believes the baptism of fire undergone by some of the squad’s rookies will stand them, and the team, in good stead over the coming years.
“I feel gutted by the results first and foremost, but we’ve got to take the positives from them,” he added. “For the young guys who have stepped up – Nathan Chamberlain, Dan Gamble and Sam Grahamslaw just to name a few – I think it’s been absolutely excellent. The attitude shown by them and the rest of the team has been first class during the week in training.”
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